Volleyball Takes First Five-Set Loss of the Year at Furman

Thursday, October 1

Greenville, S.C.

6:00 p.m.

Chattanooga

5-10,0-3SoCon

Furman

7-7,1-2SoCon

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Chattanooga	25	12	15	25	14	2
Furman	22	25	25	19	16	3

Photo by: Ray Soldano

10/1/2026 8:43:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Furman and Chattanooga played as tight of a match as you can in college volleyball

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Mocs hit the court on Thursday for the first of two matches at Furman this week and gave it their all, but ultimately fell short in five sets. The match came down to the very end with Furman squeaking out a 16-14 win in the fifth set to earn its first SoCon win of the year.

The loss ends a five-match win streak that UTC had in five-set matches dating back to Sept. 27 of last season which was a defeat to ETSU. Chattanooga had previously won five-set matches against Norfolk State and Jackson State this season.

Final Score
Chattanooga 2, Furman 3 (25-22, 12-25, 25-19, 10-25, 14-16)

Records
Chattanooga (5-10, 0-3 SoCon)
Furman (7-7, 1-2 SoCon)

Series Notes
Chattanooga moves to 34-52 all-time against Furman and 11-26 all-time in road matches against Furman. The loss ends a three-match winning streak for the Mocs against the Paladins.

How it Happened
The Mocs moved ahead 9-6 in the first set with the help of a 3-0 run that included kills from Jordin Glass and Elena Vukmanov. Chattanooga started to extend its lead later as kills by Gracie Rose and Sophia Garrido followed by a block made it 16-10. A service error from Furman put UTC on the brink of winning the set at 24-18. However, the Paladins made things interesting by scoring the next four points before a kill from Glass ended things at 25-22.

Furman came out hot in the second set, scoring the first five points. Later on a 7-0 run for the Paladins gave them a stiff 19-8 lead. Furman kept cruising as it had three of the last four points of the set to win 25-12 and tie the match at one.

The third set was very close for the early parts leading to a 11-11 score after kills from Addison Walker and Burgess. That quickly changed as the home team went on a 11-1 scoring run. The Mocs didn't get within more than nine points the rest of the way as Furman won the set 25-15 to move ahead 2-1 in the match.

In the fourth set it was more tight volleyball as a block from Kynli Kirkendoll put the score at 9-9. It wasn't until a 7-0 UTC run, highlighted by six kills, that neither team could pull ahead as the Mocs now led 19-13. Chattanooga held on to its lead despite a late Furman run, using a kill from Walker and an error by the home team to win 25-19 and send the match to a decisive fifth set.

With Chattanooga trailing by a point in the fifth set, a block solo from Burgess tied things up at five. Furman responded by scoring the next three points, leading to a Chattanooga timeout. The Mocs immediately came back with three straight points of their own, started off by a kill from Rose. Furman moved back ahead shortly afterwards with the help of a couple of UTC errors and had four match points at 14-10. UTC fought right back with four straight points capped off by a block solo from Kirkendoll to tie the match. However, after a timeout from the Paladins, back-to-back kills from Izzy Castelloe ended things at 16-14, giving the home team the win.

Individual and Team Stats

Rose was one off her career high in kills with 17 to lead the Chattanooga attack. The 17 kills is a season high.
Glass was also in double figures offensively for the Mocs with 10 kills while holding a .474 hitting percentage.
Caiti Barthel nearly had a double-double with 22 digs and a season-high nine assists.
Ashley Reynolds (22 assists, eight digs) and Mallory Merz (18 assists, seven digs) shared the load at the setter position.
Vukmanov was in double figures defensively with 13 digs to go along with six kills.
The Mocs had a season-high 13 total blocks led by Kirkendoll with seven and Burgess with six. Glass had five total blocks to her name.
Furman hit at a rate of .269 while Chattanooga had a .177 hitting percentage.
The Paladins had nine service aces while the Mocs had four.
Castelloe with 16 kills and Ashtan Dodson with 19 digs and 15 kills were the top performers for Furman.

Postgame Quote
Julie Torbett Thomas Head Coach
On tonight's match

"We continue to get better and it is unfortunate we did not get the win. We had strong performances from Gracie, Caiti, Bailey, Addison, and Jordin which is encouraging and we just need to stay positive as we work through this unfamiliar territory."

Up Next: Chattanooga takes on Furman again tomorrow at 6 p.m. in Greenville. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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