The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team closed out the 2020-21 season with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 26-14) loss on the road at in-state rival ETSU on Monday afternoon inside Brooks Gymnasium in Johnson City, Tenn.
Chattanooga concludes the season with a 6-12 overall record and a 4-12 mark in Southern Conference play. The Mocs did not qualify for the Southern Conference Tournament after placing outside of the top four in the final regular season standings. ETSU finishes the season 7-9 both overall and in the league, also not qualifying for postseason play.
MATCH BASICS | BOX
SET 1 | ETSU 25, UTC 18
SET 2 | ETSU 25, UTC 17
SET 3 | ETSU 26, UTC 24
Chattanooga and ETSU began the match in back-and-forth fashion, trading the match's first 20 points and locking in a 10-10 tie.
Following the tie, ETSU rolled on a 7-1 run to open things up at 17-11 before UTC closed within four at 20-16. The Bucs closed things out down the stretch for a 25-18 set win and 1-0 lead in the match, hitting at a blistering .516% percentage in the frame.
UTC jumped out ahead early in the second set after a Gylian Finch kill made it 10-7 in favor of the visitors. After leading 13-9, Chattanooga allowed 10-straight ETSU points and fell behind 19-13. The Bucs earned a 25-17 set decision and pulled ahead in the match 2-0.
ETSU grabbed a sizeable 14-5 lead out of the gate in the third set before a furious UTC comeback pulled the squad within one at 19-18. After trading points, the Mocs would finally tie things at 23-23 and took a brief lead at 24-23, holding set point. ETSU closed with three straight points on the help of two UTC errors (one service, one reception) and a kill, clinching the set 26-24 and the match 3-0.
Mikaela Gauthreaux provided a stellar performance in her final match every, finishing with 10 kills at an extremely efficient .529% attacking percentage. Six of the 10 kills came in the final set, which included a pair of block assists and totaled 8.0 points scored.
Maia Rackel led the team with 14 kills at a .250% clip while also adding seven digs. Gylian Finch posted seven kills, five digs and two blocks to aid Mocs attack. Bailey Steger directed the squad with 17 assists while Sophia Bossong chipped in with eight.
Paige Gallentine and Steger paced the defensive effort with a team-high eight digs each with Emma Perkins following with seven. Steger also added a pair of service aces in addition to a kill.
Chattanooga (6-12, 4-12 SoCon) has concluded the 2020-21 season and will not participate in the Southern Conference Tournament, falling outside the top four in the final regular season standings. Stay tuned to GoMocs.com over the coming months for the upcoming 2021 fall season schedule release.