CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – UNCG volleyball dropped its final contest of the regular season Saturday night in Maclellan Gymnasium against the Chattanooga Mocs.  The Spartans lost 3-0 (26-24, 26-24, 26-24) to the Mocs, and end the regular season 17-12, and 11-5 in the Southern Conference.  Chattanooga improves to 17-12, and 10-6 in the SoCon.

With the 11-5 SoCon record, the Spartans have earned the No. 2 seed in the Southern Conference Tournament hosted by Samford next weekend in Birmingham, Ala.  UNCG will take on the No. 7 seeded Western Carolina Catamounts at 5:00 p.m. Saturday evening.  The Spartans finished the regular season 2-0 against the Catamounts, dropping just one set to WCU this season.

Ashley Muench (Hurdle Mills, N.C./Orange) led the Spartans with 13 kills in the contest. Chinwendu Ngwadom (Raleigh, N.C./Chicago State) topped her career-mark, set the previous night. Ngwadom earned 12 kills, hitting at a .529 average.  She also added a block assist during the night.

Allison Penner (Aurora, Neb./Aurora) distributed the offense, earning 36 assists.  Penner added four kills and eight digs to go with three block assists and a solo block.

The Spartan offense earned 46 digs in the three sets, led by Christina Gregory's (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) 16.  Gregory ends the regular season with a 5.23 digs per set average. 

The Spartans and Mocs started the evening with a close set. The first set featured 18 ties, and seven lead changes before Chattanooga could take the set.  After being tied at 24, Chattanooga got a pair of kills from Emily Plumlee and Dani Szczepanski to gain the early advantage. 

The second set was similar to the first, with five ties and three lead changes.  UNCG held an early lead at 10-7 following a Chattanooga service error.  The Mocs were able to erase the small Spartan lead, using a 3-1 lead to gain the 15-14 advantage.  Chattanooga gained their largest lead of the evening at 23-20, following a three-point run, the run was ended by a Penner kill. UNCG used a 3-0 run to knot the match at 24, utilizing a Chattanooga service error, a Jessica Brezwyn (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South) kill, and a Moc attack error.  Chattanooga earned back-to-back points on a kill from Wieser and a Spartan attack error to earn the set.

UNCG controlled most of the final set, leading by as many as nine points.  After going up 12-3, the Mocs used a steady approach to cut into the Spartan lead.  Down the stretch, Chattanooga used a 6-1 run to tie the set at 24, before eventually taking the set and the match, 26-24. Two Chattanooga blocks and a Spartan attack error gave The Mocs the lead and the match.

The Spartans return to action Saturday, Nov. 19 against the Western Carolina Catamounts at 5:00 p.m. in the Southern Conference Volleyball Tournament.

-UNCG-