HOMEWOOD, Ala. — Chattanooga volleyball pushed Samford in two of three sets Saturday but left the Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, Ala., with a 3-0 loss, completing a weekend sweep for the Bulldogs. The set scores were 25-23, 25-17 and 25-23.
The Mocs jumped out 7-5 in the opening set on back-to-back kills by Elena Vukmanov and Gracie Rose and tied it at 23 on a Sophia Garrido kill, but Samford outside hitter Ally Cordes ended the set with two straight kills. Samford pulled away in the second set after building a 10-6 lead and scoring five of seven points to go up 20-15. Chattanooga had cut that second-set gap to 15-13 on a Garrido kill and a service ace from Mallory Merz before the hosts answered.
The third set was a seesaw. UTC tied it at 11 with a team block and climbed within 23-22 on consecutive kills by Kynli Kirkendoll before Cordes put the set and the match away.
Garrido set a season high with nine kills and Rose matched her with nine, adding nine digs. Libero Caiti Barthel dug 26 balls, Ashley Reynolds handed out 20 assists, and Kirkendoll and Vukmanov had three blocks each. Cordes finished with 16 kills and 22 digs for Samford, which leads the Southern Conference in blocking and won the block battle 10-6. The Mocs hit .102 to Samford’s .160.
The midday match drew 194 fans. Chattanooga returns home to Maclellan Gym to host Mercer on Thursday at 6 p.m. during Alumni Weekend, when the program has invited former players back to watch. The Friday opener of the two-match series followed a similar pattern, with two of its sets also settled by two points.
Section: More Chattanooga TN sports news
Chattanooga sports business profiles
Filed under: Chattanooga TN Sports News
