Ford has 18 kills in UTC volleyball loss
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team matched Tennessee Tech in a number of areas Tuesday night, but there was one area that made a big difference — and not in UTC’s favor.
The Mocs committed 24 errors in the 3-1 loss (23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-17) in Cookeville, falling to 4-3 for the season. They will play this weekend in the Western Kentucky Invitational in Bowling Green, where they will face the host Hilltoppers, Miami of Ohio and Notre Dame.
UTC will play at home next Wednesday against Middle Tennessee State on Bone Marrow Awareness Night.
UTC and Tennessee Tech (5-3) had the same number of kills Tuesday — 52 — but the home team committed 10 fewer errors and had five more blocks.
Neither team led by more than two points in the first set, but the Mocs were able to pull ahead on a Jaquelyn Langhaim ace that made it 24-23 and a kill by Mikaela Gauthreaux to finish off the set.
It was the best the Mocs would play in the match.
Ally Ford had 18 kills with a .378 hitting percentage in the loss. Dani Szczepanski, last week’s Southern Conference offensive player of the week, had nine kills and 10 digs, while Gauthreaux had seven kills. Langhaim had 26 assists and 11 digs, while Maddie Halsey had 19 assists.
Megan Kaufman had a team-high 17 digs.
Ali Verzani (15), Taylor Dorsey (14), Rachel Thomas (13) and Shealene Little (9) combined for all but one of TTU’s kills. Susie Jeziorowski had 49 assists and Kirsten Bergere had 25 digs.
Around campus
› The UTC women’s soccer team has its second consecutive weekend of a Friday home match followed by a Sunday away game, this week hosting Murray State on Friday before traveling to face Austin Peay. Murray’s Racers won 15 matches in 2017 and won the Ohio Valley Conference title, while the Governors are 3-2 this season.
The Mocs are 3-3 after a 2-1 overtime loss to Georgia State and a 3-0 loss at Lipscomb last weekend. Bailey Gale had the team’s lone goal of the weekend.
› The men’s tennis team has its first fall-semester tournament, traveling to Athens, Georgia, for the Southern Intercollegiate. The Mocs’ primary six players from 2017-18 are back, and coach Chuck Merzbacher has increased the roster from eight to 11.