Chattanooga beach volleyball opened its Ohio Valley Conference title defense on Thursday with a 3-1 victory over Lindenwood in the opening round of the 2025 OVC Championships hosted at the UTC Sports Complex.
The Sandy Mocs not only battled the Lions, but the elements as well as the team braved what can only be described as a torrential downpour over the UTC beach volleyball courts. While it made for a difficult obstacle, the Mocs were up for the challenge as they fought their way to a hard-fought win to propel Chattanooga into the winner’s bracket semifinals on Friday.
UTC will now face off against UT Martin in a battle of the tournament’s top-two seeds on Friday, April 25 at 2 p.m.
ET. With a win, the Mocs advance to Saturday’s OVC title match, which will be played at 12 p.m. ET. A loss to the Skyhawks would not mark the end of Chattanooga’s weekend, as the Mocs would have the opportunity to battle back at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday in the loser’s bracket semifinal, where the winner would advance to the championship match at noon.
All of Friday and Saturday’s remaining festivities are free for the general public to attend. Fans can also catch the full slate of matches for the weekend on ESPN+.
Chattanooga vs. Lindenwood – W 3-1
As rain battered the UTC Sports Complex, the Mocs knew it would take a full team effort in order to navigate a Lindenwood squad that Chattanooga met just a year ago in the 2024 OVC title match.
Sydney Jackwin and Ansley Gulledge, playing on Court 5 for the Mocs, made an immediate impact for UTC as the duo quickly snapped up a 21-17, 21-11 victory to get the Sandy Mocs on the board first in the matchup. The Lions responded immediately though, as Lindenwood was able to grind out a three-set win over UTC’s No. 4 pair of Joy Courtright and Julia Lawrence to level things out at 1-1.
It was then the Court 3 pair of Paige Gallentine and Kit Gresham that proved difference-makers for the Mocs, as the senior duo steamrolled their way to a 21-13, 21-8 win to put UTC ahead 2-1, just one win away from clinching the win over the Lions.
First Team All-OVC pair McKenna Faychak and Maddie Lecik then delivered the ‘dagger’ to Lindenwood, pickinh up 21-17 and 21-15 set wins in the No. 2 position to snatch the third and final Chattanooga victory over Lindenwood. Despite the rain, Faychak and company were ready for the moment.
“In our huddle before the match, we just talked about focusing on embracing the weather,” Faychak said. “Every other team has had to play through it today, so we decided that we just wanted to be on top of everybody and play through it with them.
“We wanted to come out strong and fast. Why prolong being in this crappy weather? We wanted to come out hard, come out fast and embrace being in it. Having our 4’s lose was tough for us, probably tougher than we thought, but it allowed us to kind of light a fire under our 1’s, 2’s and 3’s.”
UTC’s Court 1 pairing of Neva Clark and Corina Vale saw their match go unfinished.
1. Neva Clark/Corina Vale (UTC) vs. Abby Jacobs/Annalie McWhorter (LIN) 16-21, 20-17 unfinished
2. McKenna Faychak/Maddie Lecik (UTC) def. Nyah Wilson/Katie Bockhorst (LIN) 21-17, 21-15
3. Paige Gallentine/Kit Gresham (UTC) def. Abby VanBuskirk/Taylor Gentemann (LIN) 21-13, 21-8
4. Gabby Belcher/Aubrey Sheppard (LIN) def. Joy Courtright/Julia Lawrence (UTC) 21-17, 10-21, 15-8
5. Sydney Jackwin/Ansley Gulledge (UTC) def. Myah Hough/Sienna King (LIN) 21-17, 21-11
Order of finish: 5, 4, 3, 2