The Echo

Issue date: 9/17/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Casey Green Getting defensive: The Lady Mocs Volleyball team gets in position to defend an opponent's spike during a recent match. The team went 2-1 as the host team of the Comfort Inn and Suites Tournament last weekend.

The Chattanooga volleyball team hosted the Comfort Inn and Suites Volleyball Challenge last weekend, dropping two of its three games, including the home opener against Austin Peay.

With nearly 250 on hand in the Maclellan Gymnasium Friday night, the Lady Mocs fell 3-0 to Austin Peay, in a match that was closer than the final score indicated.

In the first set, each team traded points and the lead until the very end. The Lady Govs eventually pulled away, to take the set 25-18. A 25-23 second set victory for Austin Peay all but clinched the match. The Lady Mocs committed only two errors in the set, while recording 17 kills and a .349 hitting percentage. The effort was not good enough however, and the Lady Govs rode the momentum to a commanding 25-15 third set victory.

Chattanooga was led by junior Brandee Chastain, of Signal Mountain, Tenn., who tallied 16 assists and 12 digs in the match. Junior Courtney Barnes, of Franklin, Tenn., paced the Lady Mocs offensively, with nine kills.

UTC's lone win in the tournament came in the first game Saturday. Barnes tallied a career-high 17 kills and added three blocks, as Chattanooga handed Southern Illiniois University in Edwardsville its 11th straight loss to start the season. The Lady Mocs took the match 3-1.

SIU-Edwardsville remained close throughout the match, and it was tied one apiece through two sets. Led by .375 and .381 hitting percentages from middle blockers Barnes and Ellie Kuhn, a sophomore from San Antonio, Texas, respectively, Chattanooga squeaked out the final two sets, including a 27-25 thriller in the fourth.

The final match of the tournament pitted the Lady Mocs against Loyola (Ill.), who came in 2-0 in the tournament, and boasted the eventual tournament MVP, Katie Johnson.

Sophomore Laura Brock, Chattanooga, had 12 kills and 14 digs for her second double-double of the season, but the Ramblers had their way Saturday night, winning in straight sets, 3-0. Barnes and Kuhn once again paced Chattanooga with six kills each.

After dropping the first set in a 28-26 heartbreaker to Loyola, the Lady Mocs could not regain form, losing 25-15 in the final two sets of the weekend.

Tuesday the Lady Mocs traveled to East Tennessee State University, where they got back on the right track, winning 3-1. The game was a rematch of the season opener, when the Lady Mocs defeated ETSU by the same margin.

This time it was freshman Megan Ernd, Munter, Ind., leading the way with 13 kills and four digs.

Next up for the UTC volleyball team is a trip to Ruston, La., for the Techster Home Tournament this weekend. The Lady Mocs will take on Grambling, Southeast Louisiana and Louisiana Tech.

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