Chattanooga volleyball put together a dominant team effort at home on Tuesday night, running through Alabama A&M with a 3-0 sweep over the Bulldogs to return to the win column.
The Mocs outperformed the Bulldogs in every single stat category on the night, including outhitting the Alabama A&M .398 to .084. UTC’s hitting percentage stands as a season-high for the Mocs, as well as the team’s highest attack rate since October 1, 2016, while Alabama A&M’s .084 marks the second time this season that Chattanooga has held its opponent to a sub .100 hitting percentage.
“It was just a nice, clean match,” head coach Julie Torbett Thomas said.
“Very efficient from our hitters. Anytime you hit .398 it’s gonna be nice to see. I thought our passing was really good as well. Just a nice effort and great to be able to get just about everyone into the match.”
From the very start of Tuesday night’s match, the Mocs were in complete control against the Bulldogs with UTC opening the match on an 8-1 scoring run. The Mocs didn’t look back after their strong start, bulldozing Alabama A&M for a 25-13 set win to kick off the evening.
In set two the best the Bulldogs could muster was an early 7-5 lead on the Mocs, which would quickly evaporate thanks in large part to UTC outside hitter Breanah Rives. Despite having missed nearly a full month due to injury, the sophomore has hit the ground running since returning to the Chattanooga lineup last weekend with Rives helping to spark a 9-1 scoring run for the Mocs.
“I’ve had a good group of girls behind me that have pushed me to come back where I was at before,” Rives said. “It made me want to play for them and work really hard and be the best player that I can be. I just have a great team and a great squad and a great group of setters that give me the balls that I need.”
Once the Mocs regained control of the second frame, they were able to control the tempo for the remainder of the set cruising to a 25-22 victory and putting UTC up 2-0 on the Bulldogs.
The third and final set from Maclellan Gymnasium proved to be just as dominant for the Mocs as the first, with Chattanooga running away with a 25-15 set win to seal the sweep over Alabama A&M.
The third set also provided an opportunity for several underclassmen to check in for significant playing time to close out the match. This included true freshman outside hitter Gracie Rose, who not only recorded her first collegiate kill in the third frame but also provided the match-clinching kill for Chattanooga in the win.
“I really like my teammates and they’re always so supportive of me whether I’m on the court or off of it,” Rose said. “I feel like we’re all very much like a family, so we’re all very good at communicating and highlighting each other’s accomplishments.
“Being able to go out there and get my first career kill, it meant a lot to me but it also meant a lot that my team was ten toes behind me and all really loud and supporting me along the way.”
Breanah Rives ended her night with a double-double for the Mocs, recording a team-high 13 kills paired with 13 digs, marking her second consecutive double-double since returning from injury. Paige Gallentine would finish her night with team-highs in both digs (17) as well as aces (3), as the Fenton, Michigan, native has now officially moved into sole possession of sixth place on Chattanooga’s career aces leaderboard with 119 over her five-year career with the Mocs.
Other team leaders for the Mocs included Elaine Redman, who recorded a team-best 31 assists in the match, as well as Marcelle Baez-Carlo, who rounded out the UTC stat sheet with a team leading three blocks.
A total of seven different Mocs players would end their nights with individual hitting percentages of .400 or higher, as Baez-Carlo paced the Mocs with a .700 attack percentage on 10 attempts (seven kills). The other Mocs to swing above .400 were: Gracie Rose (.667 on three attempts – two kills), Kynli Kirkendoll (.600 on 10 attempts – six kills), Chiara Napoli (.500 on four attempts – two kills), Chard’e Vanzandt (.438 on 16 attempts – eight kills) and Breanah Rives (.429 on 28 attempts – 13 kills).
The Mocs will now continue their lengthy homestand this weekend by welcoming The Citadel and UNCG to Maclellan Gymnasium this Friday and Saturday. UTC will open its weekend with the Bulldogs, as the Mocs host The Citadel on Friday, October 11 in a 6 p.m. ET match that will also serve as the team’s annual “Dig Pink” match where fans are encouraged to wear pink for breast cancer awareness. The Mocs will then play host to the Spartans on Saturday, October 12, with the two teams set to square off at 4 p.m. Both of these matches will be available to stream on ESPN+ and are free for the public to attend.