Volleyball Unable to Overcome Chattanooga
11/2/2008 4:11:00 AM | Volleyball
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga volleyball team held off four set points in the second set en route to a 3-0 (25-20, 31-29, 25-16) sweep of Georgia Southern Sunday afternoon at Maclellan Gym.
The Lady Mocs remain in second place in the Southern Conference North Division at 10-4 and 15-13 overall. The Eagles fall to 7-7 and 14-15.
“Chattanooga played well defensively and we just couldn’t match their defensive intensity,” said GSU head coach Chad Callihan. “I thought we came out flat from the start and never could get anything going.”
Freshman Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) had a team-high 10 kills and just missed a double-double with nine digs for the Eagles. Freshman Parker Small (Charlotte, N.C.) recorded nine kills and four block assists and sophomore Michelle Uzoh (San Antonio, Texas) tallied seven kills and five blocks.
Junior Cristin Haines (Palos Heights, Ill.) shared match-high honors with 20 digs.
Chattanooga’s Aurore Kullak led all players with 12 kills and Lara Newberry totaled 20 digs.
Georgia Southern was ahead by as many as six points late in the second set, but two straight errors and an ace started a 5-0 Chattanooga run to pull the Lady Mocs to within 22-21. The run was extended to 8-2 on two more errors and another ace, giving UTC a set point.
“We just made a lot of unforced errors to close the gap,” said Callihan. “We had a six-point lead with just a few to play and couldn’t quite maintain our focus. I thought we were beginning to get into a groove a little bit and we just imploded.”
The Eagles regrouped and eventually held four set points but were unable to close it out. The Lady Mocs finally ended the marathon set at 31-29.
“They just made some plays when they had to and we couldn’t seem to make one when we needed it,” said Callihan.
Georgia Southern finishes the regular season with a four-match homestand, beginning with The Citadel Friday night at 7 p.m.
