CHATTANOOGA, TN – Despite three players with double-figure kills, UNC Greensboro dropped a tight Southern Conference volleyball match at Chattanooga, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon. The set scores were 27-25, 24-26, 25-23 and 25-23.
Branagan Fuller led the way for UNCG (15-8, 7-3 SoCon) with 18 kills and 13 digs, followed by Kayren Finney's 15 kills and Kaitlyn Nortz's 13 kills. Nortz hit .379 for the match, while Finney hit .333.
Ashley Yeager and Aurore Kullak each had 13 kills for Chattanooga (12-12, 7-3 SoCon). The difference in the match were 33 attack errors by the Spartans, compared to 23 for the Mocs.
The Spartans had a pair of set points in the opening set before dropping it, 27-25. UNCG held off the Mocs in the second after missing out on another set point. The Spartans lost a set point again in the second, but Kayren Finney's third kill in a five-point span gave UNCG a 25-24 lead and an attack error by Courtney Barnes gave the Spartans the set and evened the match up at 1-1 heading into the intermission.
UNCG fell behind quickly in the third as the Mocs scored seven off the first eight points. The Sparans rallied, however, to tie it at 13-13 on a kill by Nortz. The match see-sawed from there, but consecutive attack errors by the Spartans with the score tied at 23-23 gave Chattanooga the third set.
In the fourth, the Mocs opened up a seven-point lead, 19-12, taking advantage of six consecutive attack errors by UNCG. The Spartans came back with a 9-4 run, capped off with kills by Caley Redden and Finney, to close to within 23-21. But following a Chattanooga timeout, Laura Nethrey's 12th kill of the afternoon set up match point. Finney followed with a kill and an error by the Mocs made it 24-23. But Jessica Scott closed out the match with her seventh kill of the day to pull the Mocs even with UNCG for second in the SoCon's North Division standings.
Both teams now trail Samford by two games in the loss in the conference standings. Samford hosted Elon on Saturday night with a 1-1/2 game lead. UNCG visits Samford on Sunday at 3 pm eastern time (2 pm local).
AGATE
Chattanooga def. UNCG 27-25,24-26,25-23,25-23
UNCG (15-8, 7-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Branagan Fuller 18-0-1; Kayren Finney 15-0-6; Kaitlyn Nortz 13-0-3; Luciana Shafer 4-0-1; Alissa Beaudway 3-0-1; Emily Lindborg 1-0-0; Billi Baker 1-0-2; Kimiko Naito 1-1-0; Caley Redden 1-0-4; Lisa Fawell 1-0-0; Catherine Hanners 0-1-0; Totals 58-2-9.5. (Assists) - Kimiko Naito 34; Lisa Fawell 17. (Dig leaders) - Catherine Hanners 21; Branagan Fuller 13; Caley Redden 11; Luciana Shafer 8
Chattanooga (12-12, 7-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - YEAGER, Ashley 13-2-1; KULLAK, Aurore 13-0-0; NETHERY, Laura 12-0-3; SCOTT, Jessica 7-0-5; BARNES, Courtney 7-0-7; HUFF, Michaela 2-0-4; NEWBERRY, Lara 1-1-0; CONNER, Cassie 0-0-1; Totals 55-3-10.5. (Assists) - HUFF, Michaela 25; CONNER, Cassie 15. (Dig leaders) - NEWBERRY, Lara 34; KULLAK, Aurore 9; HUFF, Michaela 9; SCOTT, Jessica 9
- UNCG -
