By Jonathan Caudle, TTU Sports Information
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – After water outages caused the postponement of the Golden Eagles tournament opener, Tech volleyball took on Chattanooga Classic host Chattanooga, falling in a 3-1 contest to the Mocs on Friday.
The Golden Eagles were led by junior Ali Verzani hitting an incredible .378 and tied for a match-high 16 kills. Verzani was also excellent in the match from the service line, tallying four aces in the contest. Sophomore Taylor Dorsey joined Verzani with double-digit kills, recording 11 against the Mocs, while also producing a dominating presence at the net, collecting a match-high four total blocks. Sophomore Ashley Hand dished out 36 assists and Carly Skrabak held down the back row with a team-high 13 digs for the Golden Eagles.
The Mocs opened the frame on a 4-1 run, but a 4-1 run from Tech would even things up at five. The Golden Eagles would then take lead halfway through but a late 11-4 run from the Mocs would seal the opening set for Chattanooga, 25-23.
Chattanooga took control early in the second as they would eventually lead 10-5. The Golden Eagles would go on a 6-2 run to bring the contest back within one, 12-11, but the Mocs would retake control and eventually hold on for the 25-22 victory and the two-set advantage.
Tech would not go down easy, as they battled back in the third set to go up early, 6-3. The Golden Eagles would eventually extend their lead to five, 14-9, and would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the set as Tech would eventually close out the set 25-19, and extend the match, 2-1.
The fourth set was equally matched early as it remained tied for much of the early going. However, the Mocs would eventually take control following a 7-0 run for the Mocs, and despite a resilient Golden Eagle squad, would eventually take the 25-19 set and claim the four-set victory, 3-1.
Tech will return to action tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. as the Golden Eagles face the North Alabama Lions, before closing out the Chattanooga Classic tomorrow evening at 3:30 p.m. against the Manhattan Jaspers.
Photo by Thomas Corhern