The Chattanooga beach volleyball team continued their red-hot 2025 stretch by going undefeated on the first day of the OVC Weekend at Martin, finishing the day a perfect 2-0.
The Mocs ended the day with heroic efforts from every court, earning an early sweep over in-state rival Tennessee Tech before rounding out the day with a 4-1 win against Lindenwood in what was a rematch of the 2024 OVC Tournament title match.
“Proud of the way we came out today,” head coach Darin Van Horn said.
“I thought our bottom pairs really anchored our success and go us off to a good start in both duals. We started off strong and made sure we influenced each match the way we wanted.
“There of course were road bumps at times but we stuck together. We’re excited to take this momentum into tomorrow and finish the weekend the right way.”
The festivities in Martin will wrap up tomorrow for the Mocs, as UTC is set to open Saturday with a 9 a.m. ET (8 a.m. CT) match against Eastern Illinois. Chattanooga then will close out its day and its weekend at 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT) by taking on Morehead State.
Chattanooga vs. Tennessee Tech – W, 5-0
Right from the first serve of the day, the Sandy Mocs came out swinging in Martin to open up the team’s OVC season. Taking on Tennessee Tech, Chattanooga put together a near-flawless 5-0 sweep of the Golden Eagles with the Mocs only dropping one set in the entire match.
Starting off the day of domination was UTC’s Court 5 pairing in Ansley Gulledge and Sydney Jackwin, who swiftly found themselves up1-0 after an impressive 21-5 first set win. The second set between the two pairs was slightly more competitive as Gulledge/Jackwin were able to close out their promising start with a 21-12 victory, finishing first and setting the tone for the rest of the day.
Court 4 pairing Joy Courtright and Julia Lawrence were right on Gulledge and Jackwin’s heels with the duo picking up a two-set win of their own for the Mocs soon after. Facing off against the formidable duo of Bella Lineberger and Elena Wallace, the first set was a comfortable 21-16 outing for Chattanooga who was starting to find a rhythm. Courtright/Lawrence then clinched the match with a 21-15 win to put the overall score at 2-0 in favor of UTC.
McKenna Faychak and Maddie Lecik then clinched the team win for the Mocs while playing in the No. 2 spot for the Mocs. Faychak and Lecik entered their match on a mission, destroying the competition in an unreal 21-5 opening frame. While the second set proved a much tighter affair, Faychak and Lecik rolled up their sleeves to claim a 21-18 result to close out their match.
With the victory confirmed, UTC still stood strong with another double-digit victory in set one of Kit Gresham and Paige Gallentine’s Court 3 match 21-11. Gallentine and Greshmen continued to showcase UTC’s dominance in the match with a 21-15 win in the second, putting the Mocs on sweep watch with the scoreboard reading 4-0.
In a back-and-forth match that took three sets to decide a winner, the No. 1 pair of Neva Clark and Corina Vale prevailed in earning the sweep for the Sandy Mocs after taking down TTU’s top flight in a 21-17, 19-21, 15-12 slugfest. As the dust settled on the team’s opening match of the weekend, the Mocs were staring at the team’s seventh sweep of the 2025 season, taking down Tennessee Tech 5-0.
1. Neva Clark/Corina Vale (UTC) def. Bella Powell/Alayna Pierce (TTU) 21-17, 19-21, 15-12
2. McKenna Faychak/Maddie Lecik (UTC) def. Brooke Amann/Aleeya Jones (TTU) 21-5, 21-18
3. Kit Gresham/Paige Gallentine (UTC) def. Jordan Karlen/MK Roberts (TTU) 21-11, 21-15
4. Joy Courtright/Julia Lawrence (UTC) def. Bella Lineberger/Elena Wallace (TTU) 21-16, 21-15
5. Ansley Gulledge/Sydney Jackwin (UTC) def. Ava Schubert/Ayanna Rodgers (TTU) 21-5, 21-12
Order of finish: 5, 4, 2, 3, 1
Chattanooga vs. Lindenwood – W, 4-1
There was a lot of pressure resting on Friday’s late match for the Mocs, as it was a rematch of the 2024 OVC Tournament title match between reigning champion Chattanooga and Lindenwood. Not only that, but in UTC’s short program history, the Mocs have never lost a beach volleyball match to the Lions before. That wasn’t about to change.
Carrying their momentum from their win over TTU, Court 4’s Joy Courtright and Julia Lawrence were the first of the Sandy Mocs to strike and lead the charge for another victory on the first day of the OVC Weekend. Courtright and Lawrence had a dominant 21-16, 21-9 result to get the Mocs on the board early against the Lions.
In another outstanding effort, No. 5 duo Ansley Gulledge and Sydney Jackwin surged again with 21-11, 21-16 frames of their own to once again start UTC’s match off with the Mocs leading their opposition, 2-0.
In arguably the team’s most dominant performance of the day, Neva Clark and Corina Vale then steamrolled Lindenwood’s Court 1 pair of Nyah Wilson and Abby VanBuskirk in straight sets, not even allowing the opposing duo to reach double-digit points in either set. Clark and Vale claimed 21-7 and 21-9 set wins for the Mocs, clinching yet another OVC win for UTC on the day.
Faychak and Lecik soon followed the suit of the other Chattanooga pairings by defeating Lindenwood’s Court 2 pair of Abby Jacobs and Annalie McWhorter 21-16 in each set, becoming the fourth UTC pair to finish the day undefeated.
In an intense matchup on Court 3, it was Lindenwood’s Kaelyn Putz and Katie Bockhorst that ultimately prevented the second UTC sweep of the day as they exchanged sets with Grisham and Gallentine with scores of 16-21, 21-19, and 15-13 to clinch the final point of the day for Lindenwood.
Overall, the Mocs picked up a 4-1 result when all was said and done, moving Chattanooga’s all-time record against Lindenwood to a perfect 8-0.
1. Neva Clark/Corina Vale (UTC) def. Nyah Wilson/Abby VanBuskirk (LIN) 21-7, 21-9
2. McKenna Faychak/Maddie Lecik (UTC) def. Abby Jacobs/Annalie McWhorter (LIN) 21-16, 21-16
3. Kaelyn Putz/Katie Bockhorst (LIN) def. Kit Gresham/Paige Gallentine (UTC) 16-21, 21-19, 15-13
4. Joy Courtright/Julia Lawrence (UTC) def. Gabby Belcher/Taylor Gentemann (LIN) 21-16, 21-9
5. Ansley Gulledge/Sydney Jackwin (UTC) def. Aubrey Sheppard/Rebecca Janke (LIN) 21-11, 21-16
Order of finish: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3