Volleyball Flies Past Catamounts in Maclellan

Friday, October 16

Chattanooga, Tenn.

6:00 p.m.

Chattanooga

6-14,1-7SoCon

Western Carolina

6-15,2-6SoCon

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Western Caro.	25	19	15	14	1
Chattanooga	21	25	25	25	3

Chattanooga celebrating a point on Friday night against Western Carolina

Photo by: Ray Soldano

10/16/2026 8:45:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Chattanooga earned its first SoCon win of the season

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Chattanooga got in the win column in SoCon play on Friday night, with a 3-1 result over Western Carolina, ending a seven-match losing skid. Western Carolina won the first set, but UTC bounced back taking the next three sets in dominating fashion, winning by a combined 21 points.

In the win, UTC hit .224 and held Western Carolina to a .113 hitting percentage. It's the second lowest a UTC opponent has hit this season and the lowest in SoCon play. Defensively, the Mocs tallied a season-high 84 digs.

Final Score
Chattanooga 3, Western Carolina 1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-14)

Records
Chattanooga (6-14, 1-7 SoCon)
Western Carolina (6-15, 2-6 SoCon)

Series Notes
Chattanooga moves to 48-50 all-time against Western Carolina… The Mocs have won five in a row in the series… Chattanooga also moves to 26-17 in home matches against Western Carolina… Tonight was the 98th all-time meeting between the two schools… The most played match in program history.

How it Happened
The first set was neck-and-neck in the early goings as a Gracie Rose kill tied things at 10 apiece. Later on a 4-0 WCU run gave it some breathing room at 18-14. Chattanooga fought back, using a service ace from Ashley Reynolds to get back within one point at 20-19. That's as close as the Mocs got though as Western Carolina powered on using back-to-back kills to end the set at 25-21 and go up 1-0.

Chattanooga started off the second set scoring the first four points before WCU quickly tied things up. Chattanooga went back ahead by two points at 11-9 after an error from the Catamounts followed by a service ace by Jordin Glass. After Westen Carolina shortly took the lead back, a 5-0 UTC run started by a kill from Kynli Kirkendoll put the Blue and Gold up 18-14. As the set progressed, Chattanooga extended its lead, eventually winning 25-19 as Glass tallied the set-winning kill to tie the match at one.

In the third set, Chattanooga jumped ahead 10-8 as a kill from Rose kept momentum on the Mocs' side. The key moment though was an 8-0 run for Chattanooga, highlighted by eight kills putting the score at 20-11. Chattanooga went up 24-12 before eventually a kill from Vukmanov gave the home side a 25-15 win and a 2-1 lead.

Chattanooga continued to press on in the fourth set as three early kills by Rose helped put her team ahead 10-6. Shortly afterwards, back-to-back service aces from Rose saw the Mocs go up 13-6. Chattanooga's lead reached nine points at 19-10 after consecutive kills from Glass and Vukmanov. The Mocs continued to dominate as a kill from Ashley Reynolds followed by a team block ended the set at 25-14 and gave UTC the 3-1 victory.

Individual and Team Stats

Rose was an impact player for the Mocs tonight with 11 kills, five service aces, and five digs. Prior to tonight, she had not had a service ace in her three-year career at Chattanooga.
Reynolds recorded her team-high fifth double-double of the year, posting 32 assists and 13 digs. The 32 assists are the most she has had in a conference game this year.
Vukmanov also had a double-double tonight with 10 kills and 12 digs. It's the third time this season that the Mocs have had two players with a double-double in a single match.
Caiti Barthel flirted with a double-double, tallying 21 digs and eight assists.
Moving back to the attack, Sophia Garrido posted season highs in kills with nine and blocks with seven. The seven blocks are also a career-high for the fifth year player.
Middle blockers Kynli Kirkendoll (9 kills, 5 blocks) and Jordin Glass (8 kills, 5 blocks) delivered for UTC on both sides of the net.
Chattanooga won the battle at the net with 12 total blocks to Western Carolina's seven.
Chattanooga recorded nine service aces while Western Carolina had four.

Postgame Quotes
Julie Torbett Thomas Head Coach

Thoughts on the win

"Overall as a team, they definitely did a great job. I thought we blocked really well again, which that's been kind of consistent for us."

On the performance of Gracie Rose

"Gracie Rose came in and has not been serving for us. She then had five service aces, and did a phenomenal job, and led all hitters with 11 kills. So I was very proud of her. She was kind of the one leading us this week into the games, and she kept that going onto the court. We need her, so hopefully we'll have a similar type of performance again tomorrow."

Up Next: Chattanooga and Western Carolina square off again tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. in Maclellan Gym. The match is being streamed live on ESPN+.

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