Volleyball Falls in Five Sets to Miami (Ohio) in Chattanooga Classic Finale

CHATTANOOGA — The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team saw its three-match win streak snapped in the title match of the Chattanooga Classic on Saturday morning, falling to Miami (OH) in a five-set dramatic match 3-2 (26-28, 25-16, 17-25, 25-18, 15-10) inside Maclellan Gymnasium.
 
Following the loss, Chattanooga falls to 4-6 overall this season and has now played five-set matches in five of its last seven matches. Miami (OH) improved to 5-4 after the win and claimed the Chattanooga Classic title.
 
Chattanooga came out firing in the opening set and recorded 16 kills on 37 attacks while committing just three errors to amass a .351 attacking percentage in a 28-26 set win. There were 14 ties and three lead changes in the first frame that eventually led to the 1-0 UTC lead.
 
Miami evened things up 1-1 in the match behind a commanding 25-16 set win in the second. The RedHawks limited the Mocs to just eight kills and forced six errors to hold them to a .056 hitting clip.
 
It was all Chattanooga in the third set as the hosts dominated in all facets in route to a 25-17 victory and a 2-1 lead in the contest. The Mocs hit a blistering .400 percentage while holding the opposition to a lowly .100 total, in addition to out-blocking the squad by a 5.0 to 2.0 margin.
 
With its backs against the wall and needing to win the final two sets, Miami captured a 25-18 victory in the fourth set after rallying from an early deficit to force the winner-take-all fifth.
 
Chloe Bryan and Aleya Kennedy combined for a tandem block to give UTC an 8-5 lead in the fourth set and from that point, Miami responded with 35 of the match’s final 55 points, eventually closing out a 15-10 victory in the fifth.
 
Coniah Davis led the Chattanooga offense with a team-high 14 kills while Natalie Tyson and Halle Olson each finished the match with 12 kills apiece and completed double-double performances with 15 and 14 digs, respectively. Paige Gallentine surpassed 1,000 career digs with her first dig of the match and finished the contest with a team-high 20 digs.

Tyson and Marcelle Baez-Carlo, who finished the title match with 6.0 blocks and four kills, were named the Chattanooga Classic All-Tournament Team. Miami’s Allyson Severance was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after concluding the match on Saturday  with 22 kills and 14 digs.

 

UP NEXT

Chattanooga (4-6) will face UNC Asheville in a rematch from last week’s thrilling five-set win on Wednesday evening inside Maclellan Gymnasium. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. ET.

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