The Chattanooga Mocs indoor volleyball team battled tough against a pair of strong opponents but ultimately dropped a 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-19) decision to Georgia and a 3-1 (25-16, 28-30, 25-16, 25-14) tally to Troy on the final day of the Classic City Clash held in Athens, Ga., on Saturday.
Following the two losses, Chattanooga moves to 0-3 on the young season. Georgia improved to 2-0 following the early victory and Troy improved to 2-1.
"We didn't get the results we wanted but I felt we learned a lot this weekend.
We have a lot of new faces and figuring each other out will be important moving forward," said head coach Julie Torbett.
"I saw moments of great volleyball and I'm excited to keep with the process with this team."
The hosts of the Classic City Clash opened the first match on an 8-2 scoring run after forcing a few attacking errors from the Mocs at the net. UTC pulled within four on a few separate occasions with the latest coming at the 13-9 mark following a Coniah Davis kill off an assists from Sophia Bossong.
Georgia rallied from that point and used an explosive offensive effort to extend the four-point advantage into a 10-point lead, 21-11, following a double block off a Halle Olson attack. UGA would close out the set with four of the final six points to claim a 25-13 set win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
Chattanooga and Georgia went back-and-forth for more than half of the second set as the entire match featured 18 ties and three lead changes. The latest the two teams were locked up in the set was at 13-13 after the duo of Elaine Redman and Sydney Hall combined for a big block off the left pin.
The Mocs couldn't sustain the momentum as the Bulldogs sprinted with seven-straight points following that block to expand out to a 20-13 lead. UTC tried to gain ground but the offensive attack from UGA, paired with a few miscues, allowed for a 25-16 decision in favor of the home team.
Much like the second set, both teams traded nearly every point to open play as the squads found themselves tied 10 times in total during the third. Tied 12-12, Natalie Tyson recorded a kill off a Bossong assist to give UTC its final lead of the match 13-12.
The Bulldogs went on a 10-4 run and forced a Chattanooga timeout after pulling ahead by a wide 23-16 margin. UGA would clinch the 3-0 match victory behind a 25-19 difference in the third and final set.
Against Troy, the Trojans opened the match with a huge 18-2 run that created separation for the entirety of the set. The large spread consisted of a 14-0 run from the Trojans after a service ace from Marcelle Baez-Carlo made it 4-2. Troy ended up capturing the set 25-16.
It took a wild and extended effort for UTC to capture its first set victory of the season. Troy jumped out to another early lead, 4-1, before the Mocs clawed their way back to tie things up at 5-5 and ahead of both teams finding themselves locked at 10-10.
It was again a balanced effort from both teams as the deadlock at 10-10 continued all the way to a tie at 21-21 following a Halle Olson kill. The close battle turned into each teams possessing multiple set point opportunities with the first coming for Troy at 24-23.
The tandem of Bossong and Baez-Carlo built a successful block to fend off the Trojans set point and tie the set at 24-24. A Troy attack error gave UTC its first look to clinch the set, but UTC's counterattack also was unsuccessful which lead to a 25-25 draw. Eventually tied 28-28, back-to-back kills from Kate Neill and Nailah Jones allowed Chattanooga to claim a wild 30-28 victory and tie the match at 1-1.
UTC corrected its attack in the early goings of a set and saw itself take a 6-5 lead off another successful Neill attack. Troy responded with nine of the next 13 points to pull ahead 14-10. The Mocs answered with four-straight points on the help of a combined effort of Neill and Olson both offensively and defensively at the net to tie it 14-14.
It was all the Trojans down the stretch as the team from Alabama finished things off on an 11-2 run to claim the third set 25-16 and a 2-1 lead in the match. UTC was limited to an .069 attacking percentage in the frame while Troy finished with a blistering .378 tally.
Much like the previous sets, the two teams went back-and-forth and found themselves in a stalemate at 6-6 in the early going. From that point, Troy went on a 14-3 run behind a lethal offensive attack which helped build themselves an insurmountable 20-9 edge.
Chattanooga would only climb within in 10 points the rest of the way as Troy claimed the match 3-1 following a 25-14 victory in the fourth and final set.
Chattanooga (0-3, 0-0 SoCon) heads south to Jacksonville, Fla., for the Jacksonville Invitational hosted by Jacksonville University September 2 and 3. The Mocs will face the hosts, Presbyterian and Georgia State. Match coverage links will be made available on the schedule page when available.
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