Mocs Volleyball Falls To Arkansas State At Hokie Invitational
Saturday, September 21, 2019
The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team surrendered a high-efficient attack from the Arkansas State offense during a 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-11) loss on the final day of the Hokie Invitational Saturday afternoon inside Cassell Coliseum.
Chattanooga finishes non-conference play with a 5-8 record after Saturday's defeat. Arkansas State captured the Hokie Invitational title after the win and upped its 2019 record to 9-3.
The teams traded rallies early on, tying on eight different occasions while switching the lead six times, finding themselves locked at 13-13.
The Red Wolves created some separation with a 5-1 run to build an 18-14 lead before the Mocs pulled within two at 20-18 with four of the next six.
Arkansas State laid down a trio of kills and were aided by a pair of Chattanooga errors, one attacking and one serving, to earn a 25-21 set victory and pull ahead in the match 1-0. Dani Szczepanski led all attackers in the opening set with six kills at a .400 clip while Maddie Halsey paced the set with 13 assists.
Following ties at 1-1 and 3-3, ASU pulled ahead with five-straight points to build a lead it would fail to relinquish. The five-point advantage grew after another long stretch of rallies, eventually closing at a 25-14 difference in favor of the Red Wolves. After two sets, ASU held a .295%-.068% advantage in attack percentage and a 26-22 edge in kills.
Chattanooga took three of the first four points of the third set before Arkansas State answered with seven of the next eight to take an 8-4 lead. The four-point Red Wolves lead grew to ten, 20-10, before a closing 4-1 stretch clinched the match sweep behind a 25-11 set total.
The Mocs were limited to an .009% attack percentage, its second-lowest mark of the season, while allowing a .279% clip to the opposition, the second-highest allowed in 2019. The 9.0 team block total from ASU matched the most against UTC attackers this season.