To say that Chattanooga beach volleyball has had an dominant or historic 2025 season would be a massive understatement, as the Sandy Mocs carried their dominance right through the final match of the regular season on Saturday with UTC emerging as 2025 OVC regular season champions for the second consecutive year.
Following a pair of victories over the likes of Eastern Illinois and Morehead State at the final day of the OVC Weekend at Morehead, the Mocs walked off the sand a perfect 10-0 to close out the OVC season, becoming just the second team in OVC history to finish the regular season undefeated in conference play.
With records that include program records for total wins (23) and sweep victories (16) on the season, the Sandy Mocs added their second consecutive OVC regular season title (first outright title in program history) to their laundry list of accolades.
Now dubbed as the No. 1 overall seed at next weekend’s OVC Tournament, UTC will have its sights set on earning its second-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament by claiming the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament crown as well.
“Another historic season from a historic group,” head coach Darin Van Horn said. “So proud of our group and happy to finish the way that we did!”
Next weekend’s OVC Tournament is set to run April 24-26 at the UTC Sports Complex, and as the tournament’s top seed the Sandy Mocs have earned themselves a first-round bye in the tournament bracket. The Mocs will be in action at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, taking on the winner of No. 4 seed Lindenwood and No. 5 seed Tennessee Tech, who play each other earlier that same day.
All of next weekend’s OVC Tournament matches will be free for the general public to attend. ESPN+ streams will also be available for fans not in attendance for every single match taking place. Live stats will also be available to fans. Stream and stat links will eventually be available on the Chattanooga beach volleyball schedule page on GoMocs.com.
Chattanooga vs. Eastern Illinois – W, 4-1
Entering the team’s penultimate match of the 2025 regular season, the Sandy Mocs knew that their path to a second consecutive OVC regular season title was simple: beat Eastern Illinois.
Ansley Gulledge and Sydney Jackwin gave Chattanooga its first step towards the crown in the No. 5 spot, putting together a dominant two-set effort in what ended up being a 21-10, 21-8 battering to give UTC the lead. Joy Courtright and Julia Lawrence then followed this up by claiming their 14th-straight win in the No. 4 position for the Mocs, as the UTC duo collected 21-15, 21-13 set wins to move Chattanooga just one more win away from clinching the outright title.
Poetically, it was then senior Neva Clark, the reigning back-to-back OVC Player of the Year, alongside her Court 1 partner in Corina Vale, that dealt the clinching blow for the Mocs against EIU. After picking up a 21-15 win in the first frame, Clark and Vale followed it up with a 21-16 second set, securing their ninth win of the OVC season while also clinching the program’s second OVC regular season title in the process.
McKenna Faychak and Maddie Lecik then added one last point to UTC’s score on Court 2, battling back from a 21-18 loss in the first set to win the second (21-12) and third (15-8) frames in dominant fashion to reverse sweep a fourth point onto the board for the Sandy Mocs.
Eastern Illinois was able to scrape together one point on the day in the No. 3 position, battling with Paige Gallentine and Kit Gresham in what ended up being a tightly contested, three-set battle to close out the match. EIU ended up coming out on top 16-21, 21-19, 18-16 in that matchup, but by then the Mocs already had reason to celebrate as they walked off the court as regular season champs once again.
1. Neva Clark/Corina Vale (UTC) def. Destiny Walker/Catalina Rochaix (EIU) 21-15, 21-16
2. McKenna Faychak/Maddie Lecik (UTC) def. Laura Paniagua/Emma Schroeder (EIU) 18-21, 21-12, 15-8
3. Tori Mohesky/Sylvia Hasz (EIU) def. Kit Gresham/Paige Gallentine (UTC) 16-21, 21-19, 18-16
4. Joy Courtright/Julia Lawrence (UTC) def. Ariadna Pereles/Kaitlyn Flynn (EIU) 21-15, 21-13
5. Ansley Gulledge/Sydney Jackwin (UTC) def. Lilli Amettis/Julia Udell (EIU) 21-10, 21-8
Order of finish: 5, 4, 1, 2, 3
Chattanooga vs. Morehead State – W, 5-0
Already riding the high of the team securing its second OVC regular season title, the Sandy Mocs went into their final match of regular season with only one thing on their mind: perfection. With a win over Morehead State, Chattanooga would become just the second team in OVC history to finish a season undefeated in conference play. It would be a tall task, but the Mocs were up for the challenge.
From the jump Paige Gallentine and Kit Gresham made their presence known for the Mocs, as the pair, playing in the No. 4 position, stitched together a 21-10, 21-19 result on Court 4 to get UTC off and rolling. This was later followed up by Chattanooga’s Court 5 duo of Ansley Gulledge and Sydney Jackwin earning a straight-set victory of their own, taking down MSU’s No. 5 pairing 21-16, 21-13 to move UTC once inch closer to perfection.
Joy Courtright and Julia Lawrence then delivered the crushing and clinching blow for the Mocs, as the duo made an immediate impact for the squad after moving up into the team’s No. 3 slot for the first time this season. After a dominant 21-11 first set, Courtright and Lawrence sealed the Eagles’ fate by grabbing a 21-18 win in the second to not only clinch UTC’s tenth OVC win of the year, but to also clinch the pair’s 15th consecutive win of the season.
UTC’s Court 2 pair of McKenna Faychak and Maddie Lecik joined in on the fun shortly after Courtright and Lawrence’s victory, as Faychak and Lecik saw scorelines of 21-17, 21-14 to keep the team’s momentum at an all-time high as Chattanooga took a 4-0 lead.
Neva Clark and Corina Vale then added an exclamation point to an already historic and emotional day for the Sandy Mocs, as the pair fought its way to a 21-14, 25-23 Court 1 victory to clinch the team’s 16th sweep of the year in UTC’s final match of the regular season. Clark and Vale, the clear OVC Pair of the Year frontrunners, end their regular season a perfect 10-0 as a pair in OVC matches in the No. 1 slot.
1. Neva Clark/Corina Vale (UTC) def. Irene Wogenstahl/Bella Marita (MSU) 21-14, 25-23
2. McKenna Faychak/Maddie Lecik (UTC) def. Sarah Heath/Sydney Wyman (MSU) 21-17, 21-14
3. Joy Courtright/Julia Lawrence (UTC) def. Peighton Isley/M.E. Hargan (MSU) 21-11, 21-18
4. Kit Gresham/Paige Gallentine (UTC) def. Brenna Bommer/Shea Hefner (MSU) 21-10, 21-19
5. Ansley Gulledge/Sydney Jackwin (UTC) def. Hollan Everett/Courtney Fitzgerald (MSU) 21-16, 21-13
Order of finish: 4, 5, 3, 2, 1
FOLLOW CHATTANOOGA BEACH VOLLEYBALL
For the most up-to-date information regarding Chattanooga Beach Volleyball, please follow us on Twitter (@GoMocsBeachVB), Instagram (@GoMocsBeachVB) & Facebook (Chattanooga Athletics Department) or visit GoMocs.com.
GoMocs.com is the official website of the Chattanooga Mocs. Buy officially licensed gear in our online store. The Mocs can also be followed on their official Facebook page or on Twitter. Find out how to join the Mocs Club and support more than 300 student-athletes by clicking here.
...