It was an opening day for the books for the Chattanooga Mocs volleyball program following a thrilling 3-2 win over Norfolk State and a tough 3-1 defeat to Big 12-member UCF at the UCF Tournament held at The Venue in Orlando, Fla., on Friday afternoon.
Chattanooga opens the season 1-1 after today's doubleheader while Norfolk State dropped to 0-1 after its defeat to the Mocs and UCF went to 1-0 after its opener. UTC has now won seven of its last nine matches during opening weekend of play.
Chattanooga wraps up play in the UCF Tournament on Saturday with a Noon (ET) matchup against UC Riverside.
Match coverage links can be found on the schedule page.
Chattanooga 3, Norfolk State 2
Chattanooga opened the match with a 25-18 win in the first set.
The Mocs built a quick 7-4 lead before the two teams locked at 10-10.
UTC earned eight of the next 12 points to take an 18-14 lead on the heels of a balanced attack.
Back-to-back kills from Sydney Jackwin and Kendyl MacAskill capped off the 25-18 set victory.
Norfolk State raced out to a fast 6-0 lead before UTC rallied with six-straight of their own to tie the set 6-6. Similar to the first, the teams found themselves knotted at 10-10 before NSU took six of the next eight to grab a 16-12 edge. The Mocs clawed back to tie the set, 19-19, following consecutive kills from Gracie Rose. NSU captured the set win, 25-22, after forcing UTC into an attacking error on set point.
In the third set, Norfolk State put together another fast start as a pair of aces and blocks helped build a 5-2 advantage. Back-to-back aces from Mallory Merz cut UTC's deficit to one, 10-9, before the Spartans built back a 13-9 edge with three-straight quick points. The Mocs grabbed leads at 16-15 and 17-16 on kills from Jackwin and Kynli Kirkendoll, respectively. UTC faltered down the stretch as NSU ended the set on a 9-2 run to claim a 25-19 victory and 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth, The two teams account for eight ties in the early stages of the set before a quick 3-0 run from UTC helped build a 15-12 advantage heading into the media timeout.
Chattanooga maintained a slight three-point lead, 18-15, before extending it to four, 21-17, after a Kirkendoll solo block on the NSU attack.
UTC closed the set with four unanswered points to claim a 25-18 decision and force a winner-take-all fifth.
NSU jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead in the fifth set after a strong attack on the offensive and service side. It was all Chattanooga after an initial 4-0 run allowed for a 6-5 advantage in the set.
From there, UTC scored nine of the final 12 points in the deciding set and clinched the match on a Gracie Rose kill that captured the 15-8 decision.
Records: Chattanooga 1-0; Norfolk State 0-1
Leaders: Rose: 17 kills, five digs, four blocks; Jackwin: 17 kills, 24 digs; Kirkendoll: 12 kills, seven digs, nine blocks; Reynolds: 43 assists, 10 digs.
UCF 3, Chattanooga 1
Chattanooga and UCF went back-and-forth to open the first set of action as the host Knights held a slight 11-9 lead after the first 20 rallies. UCF built a five-point edge, 18-13, after forcing the Mocs into multiple attacking errors over a four-rally span. UTC cut its deficit to three down the stretch, 19-16, before UCF ended the opening frame on a 4-0 run to capture a 25-18 victory and 1-0 lead in the match.
UCF jumped out to an early 5-2 edge before three-straight Chattanooga points resulted in a 5-5 knot. Leading 10-8, the Knights used a 5-2 scoring run to build a 15-10 advantage while forcing the Mocs into calling a timeout. The closest UTC would pull within was four, 18-14, late in the third set before the hosts ran away with a convincing 25-15 decision and 2-0 lead.
Forced to win the set to extend the match, it was Chattanooga who jumped out early with a 5-2 lead after a Caiti Barthel ace and kills from Rose and Jordin Glass. A back-and-forth battle broke out from there which led to the two teams locked in a 13-13 tie as UCF called timeout in search of momentum. Following the timeout, Chattanooga rattled off six-straight points to create a sizable 19-13 advantage before closing the set out with a 25-19 win and forcing a fourth set.
The two teams split the first six points of the fourth before the 3-3 tie led to a 9-4 UCF advantage after the hosts scored six of the next seven points. Chattanooga fought to keep things within striking distance before a 10-4 scoring spurt from the Knights created a wide margin, 19-8, with just a few points remaining. UCF ended UTC's upset bid after ultimately winning the fourth by a 25-11 count and the match by a 3-1 tally.
Records: Chattanooga 1-1; UCF 1-0
Leaders: Jackwin: eight kills, eight digs; Rose: seven kills; Vukmanov: seven kills; Barthel: 17 digs, three assists.