photo by Gomocs.com/Ray Soldano
The Chattanooga beach volleyball team defended their home courts on Saturday in the Scenic City, as the Mocs fended off UT Martin and Tusculum in a pair of home matchups on UTC’s Senior Day.
The Mocs opened the day with a thrilling 3-2 victory against UT Martin, which now maintains Chattanooga’s position at the top of the Ohio Valley Conference standings. Later that same day, the Mocs celebrated Senior Day at the UTC Sports Complex and sent the four-woman senior class off with a bang by sweeping Tusculum 5-0 to extend Chattanooga’s win streak now up to six-straight wins.
“We’ve done a really good job going week-to-week and trying to figure out our identity as pairs and continuing to sharpen up a few things here and there,” head coach Darin Van Horn said.
“We had a big game against UT Martin where we were giving ourselves a chance to create some space in the conference standings and I’ve felt like they’ve been confident all week and have played really relaxed. A big part of that is in our senior leadership.
“To get to celebrate those seniors and what they’ve been able to do for this group in the long term over their careers, it’s great to see them be able to do this on their home court. That veteran leadership and that calmness that we have has shown. We’re happy to walk out of today with a big conference win as well as with a win that sent our seniors off in the right way.”
The Mocs will return to action on Saturday, April 5 when UTC heads to Martin for a rematch against their OVC counterpart, UT Martin. Chattanooga is set to take on the Skyhawks twice that day at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. ET. Only the first match will count towards the teams’ OVC records with the second match being considered as a “non-conference match”.
Chattanooga vs. UT Martin – W, 3-2
The drama ensued early against the respective one (UTC) and two (UTM) seeds of the OVC as the matches began with UT Martin pulling the first sets in their favor in front of UTC’s home crowd. The Sandy Mocs were able to bounce back, however, and continued to give the home crowd something to cheer for.
It was UTC’s Court 4 pairing Joy Courtright and Julia Lawrence that kicked off the day, dropping a rather intense first set to Dylan Mott and Ryan Rednour 24-22. Courtright and Lawrence stood firm and kept tensions low, pulling together back-to-back sets 21-16, 15-8 to ultimately give Chattanooga the first point of the day against their rivals.
The match was also a much taller task for UTC’s 4’s than usual, as Martin moved their No. 1 pairing of Mott and Rednour into the No. 4 position. Courtright and Lawrence were unfazed by the move, however, picking up a massive upset in the No. 4 slot that proved crucial in UTC’s eventual match win.
“I’ve played against both of those girls before in my years of playing here, so I knew their instincts and their favorite shots and communicated that to Julia,” Courtright said following the match. “We were able to lock in really early and find their weaknesses and we just stayed consistent and kept communicating. I think we played our game and more, and I’d even say we played better by having our families and our motivations here to cheer us on at home.”
Martin then responded back on Court 5 with their own Sydney Eckhardt and Reagan McGee downing UTC’s Sydney Jackwin and Ansley Gulledge in a back-and-forth contest. With a final score of 21-15, 16-21, 18-16, the match had returned to level pegging as the top three courts were set to get underway.
The Skyhawks then jumped ahead of the Mocs 2-1 after picking up a win on Court 3 over Paige Gallentine and Kit Gresham 21-19, 21-15. Now with only Courts 1 and 2 still playing, the Mocs would need to be perfect in order to secure the conference W.
The highly anticipated Court 1 pairings did not disappoint, with senior Neva Clark and her well-established accomplice Corina Vale providing the turning point in the match by squeaking out a 21-17 win over UT Martin’s Riley Rushing and Dylan Sulcer. Clark and Vale kept the Mocs’ hopes alive with a more comfortable 21-14 second set victory, putting the pressure of the match on Court 2.
Within seconds of Court 1 finishing, the UTC Sports Complex roared to life as the No. 2 duo of McKenna Faychak and Maddie Lecik saw the match-clinching point fall in favor of Chattanooga. Having already won the first set 24-22, Faychak and Lecik were able to secure a 21-18 win on Court 2, clinching a dramatic 3-2 result over UTC’s bitter rivals to now put the Mocs two games clear of the Skyhawks in the league standings.
1. Neva Clark/Corina Vale (UTC) def. Riley Rushing/Dylan Sulcer (UTM) 21-17, 21-14
2. McKenna Faychak/Maddie Lecik (UTC) – def. Olivia O'Keefe/Kayla Bryant (UTM) 24-22, 21-18
3. Jenna Vallee/Lauren Mariscal (UTM) def. Paige Gallentine/Kit Gresham (UTC) 21-19, 21-15
4. Joy Courtright/Julia Lawrence (UTC) – def. Dylan Mott/ Ryan Rednour (UTM) 22-24, 21-16, 15-8
5. Sydney Eckhardt/Reagan McGee (UTM) def. Ansley Gulledge/Sydney Jackwin (UTC) 21-15, 16-21, 18-16
Order of finish: 4, 5, 3, 1, 2
Chattanooga vs Tusculum – W, 5-0
Still riding high after the team’s success earlier against UT Martin, the Sandy Mocs walked into the later slate with smiles and a sense of ease versus Tusculum. Full of emotion and gratitude for the Senior Day celebration that took place prior to UTC’s match against the Pioneers, the Mocs sent their seniors off with a broom in hand as Chattanooga was able to secure a dominant 5-0 victory in the team’s final regular season match at home this year.
The first pairing to set the tonal shift against Tusculum was none other than Court 5’s Jackwin and Gulledge, who swept both of the sets versus the Pioneer’s Katie Murphy and Sofia Richmond with the same score of 21-13 to put Chattanooga up 1-0.
Continuing in descending order was Courtright and Lawrence of Court 4 who also reflected the 21-13 score in set one against Kyla Oppenhuis and Landry Tea, and finished the match wat a tighter 21-19 in the second to cap off their day a perfect 2-0 as a pair.
After a narrow loss earlier in the day, Gresham and Gallentine bounced back on Court 3 for the Mocs as a strong defensive showing by the pair helped them secure 21-12 and 21-11 set wins to clinch the match for UTC. Adding to the victories, UTC’s No. 2 duo of Faychak and Lecik saw a solid 21-17 result in their opening set before steamrolling their way to a 21-9 thrashing to close out their match.
Clark and Vale then provided the cherry on top of a stellar day at the UTC Sports Complex, running away with a 21-14, 21-17 win in the No. 1 position to break out the brooms once again as the Mocs ended up coming away with the 5-0 sweep over the Pioneers. For senior Neva Clark, she couldn’t have dreamed up a better way for her Senior Day to have gone.
“I’m so grateful for everyone here and the time I’ve had here and the things that I’ve accomplished here,” Clark said. “The memories I’ve made with all of the girls and with the coaches… to be able to enjoy and reflect on that today beside all of my other seniors just means the world to me. To have such a big crowd out here and for our families to be out here and for us to be able to get those two big wins, it just makes it all the more sweeter.”
1. Neva Clark/Corina Vale (UTC) def. Brynn Smith/Hannah Marsh (TUS) 21-14, 21-17
2. McKenna Faychak/Maddie Lecik (UTC) – def. Mia Johnson/Kassidy Mercado (TUS) 21-17, 21-9
3. Paige Gallentine/Kit Gresham (UTC) def. Ryann Gallagher/Morgan Willis (TUS) 21-12, 21-11
4. Joy Courtright/Julia Lawrence (UTC) – def. Kyla Oppenhuis/Landry Tea (TUS) 21-13, 21-19
5. Ansley Gulledge/Sydney Jackwin (UTC) def. Katie Murphy/Sofia Richmond (TUS) 21-13, 21-13
Order of finish: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1