For the second consecutive season, the Chattanooga beach volleyball team punched its ticket into the NCAA Tournament after the Sandy Mocs defeated UT Martin 3-2 to become Ohio Valley Conference tournament champions on Saturday at the UTC Sports Complex.
In front of a raucous home crowd at the UTC Sports Complex, the Mocs (26-5, 10-0 OVC) fought through one of the team’s most dramatic matches in program history as it took all five courts to get the job done. However, it was ultimately the reigning back-to-back OVC Pair of the Year of Neva Clark and Corina Vale who dealt the clinching blow on Court 1 for the Mocs, securing yet another title for the Sandy Moc Dynasty.
“It was gritty,” head coach Darin Van Horn said following the match.
“UT Martin was an amazing opponent and every dual we’ve had against them has been a battle. It was just a gritty win for us. Once we split the first round I knew it was going to be a long road ahead, and then it came down to our 1’s pair and there’s nobody else I’d want to have in that position than them. It was just awesome to finish it off that way.”
Both Clark and Vale, as well as UTC’s Court 5 pairing of Sydney Jackwin and Ansley Gulledge received spots on the OVC’s All-Tournament Team for their efforts over the course of the championship weekend. Jackwin and Gulledge were ultimately named as OVC Tournament MVPs after finishing the tournament 3-0 as a pair.
“Coming in as transfers, we didn’t really know what to expect especially going into the tournament ranked as the No. 1 seed,” Gulledge said. “We definitely felt the pressure, but we just stayed in control on our side of the net. It’s the only thing we can control. Syd and I really thrive when we bring a lot of energy, so we just created our energy and trusted each other out there.”
“For everyone else here, they had already had the feeling of what this tournament is like and what it’s like to play in it and win it,” Jackwin continued. “For us, yeah it was new but at the same time we were like ‘why not us?’ Darin picked us and wanted us on the team for a reason.
“He gave us the opportunity to play and believed in us, so we just focused on that. Ansley and I, if either of us start to get in our heads we’re just so good at lifting the other person right back up. It may be our first year playing together, but it feels like she and I have been playing together for years.”
Chattanooga will now wait to learn who the Sandy Mocs will be matching up against in the 2025 NCAA Tournament next weekend in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The 2025 NCAA Tournament is set to run May 2-4 at Gulf Place Beach.
Chattanooga vs. UT Martin – W 3-2
The 2025 OVC title match lived up to the hype right from the get-go as both the Mocs and Skyhawks had their sights set on booking a trip to Gulf Shores. For the championship match formatting, it would be Courts 4 and 5 that would get things underway.
Chattanooga’s Court 5 pairing drew first blood in the in-state rivalry, as the OVC Tournament MVPs Sydney Jackwin and Ansley Gulledge got the ball rolling in favor of the Mocs. The No. 5 duo was dominant in their match, as they have been all weekend, picking up back-to-back 21-13 set wins to put the Mocs up 1-0 early-on in the contest.
The Sandy Mocs then looked to Joy Courtright and Julia Lawrence on Court 4 in what truly was a pivotal match in the game. With a win the Mocs would move just one more victory away from the title, while a loss would level things out for the Skyhawks at the turn.
Courtright and Lawrence got straight to work, feeding off of the crowd’s energy to put together a 21-13 win in the opening set of their match. UT Martin responded right back, however, forcing a third frame after a 21-14 result in the second. It was then the Skyhawks that dealt the final blow on Court 4, as the UTM duo earned a 15-8 win in the third set to officially level things out at 1-1 as Courts 1, 2 and 3 got ready to get underway.
All attention then turned to the top three pairings of the day, as a season of a lifetime for the Sandy Mocs relied on just two more victories out on the beach. All three matches provided thrilling first sets as across the board the opening set scores read: 24-22, 21-19 and 24-22.
McKenna Faychak and Maddie Lecik were the lone UTC pair to win their first set in that Top 3 grouping, as Faychak and Lecik grinded out a 21-19 victory to open their match. Galvanized by their tight win in the first, ‘Kenny and Lee’ left no doubt in their second set as the pair cruised to a 21-11 victory to seal a straight-set sweep on Court 2 that put the Mocs ahead 2-1.
Once again, the Skyhawks found a response though as UT Martin’s Court 3 duo snuck out a narrow 24-22 win over Paige Gallentine and Kit Gresham to kick off their matchup in the No. 3 position. While the senior duo of Gallentine and Gresham left all that they could out on the court in what was their final match at the UTC Sports Complex, the Skyhawks nabbed another 21-15 victory in the second, leveling out the score once more at 2-2.
It was here that the weight of the match, and the season, fell on Court 1. Chattanooga’s top flight pair, Neva Clark and Corina Vale, found themselves in an early hole having dropped the opening set of their match 24-22. It would be over the next two sets, however, that Clark/Vale proved why they are back-to-back OVC Pair of the Year award winners for the Mocs.
Clark and Vale went to work in the second frame, powering past UTM’s No. 1 duo with a 21-15 win. At this point, the record crowd at UTC Sports Complex was at a fever pitch as Chattanooga’s season came down to a third and final set.
From the start of the third frame, Clark and Vale proved they had nerves of steel and were up for the challenge as the UTC pair inched closer and closer to the thrilling conclusion of Championship Saturday. Every shot for the Mocs fell while every attempt from the Skyhawks had an answer, and it looked as though no was going to stop Clark and Vale from willing the Mocs to the victory.
With the scoreboard reading 14-9 in favor of Clark/Vale, it was one last point from the senior Neva Clark that sealed the deal for the Sandy Mocs. The three-time Player of the Year, with her final career point at the UTC Sports Complex, had just clinched the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference title for Chattanooga.
It was a dream realized for a woman who has given everything to building up Chattanooga beach volleyball to what it is today. Not only does she leave behind a legacy; she leaves behind a dynasty.
1. Neva Clark/Corina Vale (UTC) def. Riley Rushing/Dylan Sulcer (UTM) 22-24, 21-15, 15-9
2. McKenna Faychak/Maddie Lecik (UTC) def. Olivia O’Keefe/Kayla Bryant (UTM) 21-19, 21-11
3. Jenna Vallee/Lauren Mariscal (UTM) def. Paige Gallentine/Kit Gresham (UTC) 24-22, 21-15
4. Sydney Eckhardt/Reagan McGee (UTM) def. Joy Courtright/Julia Lawrence (UTC) 13-21, 21-14, 15-8
5. Sydney Jackwin/Ansley Gulledge (UTC) def. Kylie Surratt/Kristin Phillips (UTM) 21-13, 21-13
Order of finish: 5, 4, 2, 3, 1