MATCH STATS
- #25 Missouri State def. Chattanooga, 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-18)
- MSU climbs to 7-3, Chattanooga drops to 7-5
- Springfield, Missouri
- Attendance: 1192
- Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – In their home-opener at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational, the #25 Missouri State Bears hit a season-high of .354 to sweep the Mocs of Chattanooga, 3-0. Missouri State continued their stingy defense, allowing the Mocs to hit only .131 on the night.
Leading the attack for the Bears was senior middle blocker Lynsey Wright, hitting .650 with an impressive attack line (14-1-20) to go along with three blocks. Senior outside hitter Lily Johnson, the defending VolleyMob National Player of the Week, just missed her 103rd career double-double, a soon-to-be MVC record. She finished with 9 kills on 27 swings (.333) without an error, along with adding 2 aces, 2 blocks and 8 digs. Junior middle blocker MacKenzie Irwin set a couple of career highs with 7 kills and 5 blocks. Daniele Messa led the efficient attack with 26 assists. Libero Emily Butters led all defenders with 17 digs.
The Mocs, a member of the Southern Conference who have advanced to the SoCon championship match each of the last two seasons, were led by Ally Ford with 13 kills, 7 digs and a block. Megan Kaufman defended well with 14 digs. Lauren Greenspoon ran the offense with 24 assists and chipped in with 6 digs.
Up next for Missouri State in the always competitive Dr. Wynn Invitational are Washington State on Friday and Illinois on Saturday, whom the Bears beat in Champaign last season.
PRESS RELEASE, courtesy of Missouri State Athletics:
SPRINGFIELD — Behind 14 kills on 20 swings from senior Lynsey Wright, the Missouri State volleyball team hit a season-high .354 in a 25-18, 25-12, 25-18 sweep of visiting Chattanooga Thursday evening in the opening match of the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Hammons Student Center.
The Bears (7-3) jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the first set on a Lily Johnson solo block, and got a block and a kill from MacKenzie Irwinduring a 4-0 run to lead 16-9. MSU led by at least six points for the duration of the set, accumulating 27 digs and five blocks to hold the Mocs (7-5) to a .061 attack efficiency.
Missouri State’s offense piled up 18 kills and hit .533 in the second set, racing to a 7-1 lead and getting five kills apiece from Wright and Lily Johnson.
The third set saw seven ties and six early lead changes, the last coming during a 7-0 run that put the Bears ahead 15-9 and included three kills and a block from Wright. MSU led by at least four points after that and hit .400 in the final set.
Johnson added nine kills without and error, and Irwin matched career highs with seven kills and five blocks. Chattanooga hit .131 and the Bears held leads of 45-32 in kills, 49-41 in digs and 9-4 in blocks. Emily Butters had a match-high 17 digs, and Johnson and Emelie Orlando each served two aces.
The Bears are in action again Friday at 6 p.m. against Washington State (8-1) in a battle between teams ranked just outside the AVCA Top 25.
PRESS RELEASE, courtesy of UT-Chattanooga Athletics:
CHATTANOOGA — The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team opened up play at the Dr. Wynn Invitational against the tournament-hosts, Missouri State, and fell in straight-sets (25-18, 25-12, 25-18) on Thursday night.
Following the loss, the Mocs drop to 7-5 overall with two matches against ‘Power-5’ programs remaining on the non-conference slate. MSU improved to 7-3 in 2017.
UTC was out-attacked in the percentage category, .354 – .131, and trailed in the total kills column 45-32. After hitting .206 in the opening set, MSU finished the final two sets attacking at a combined .467 including a .533 second set and totaled 34 kills during that span. The Bears also out-blocked the Mocs 9.0 – 4.0.
Ally Ford led the Mocs with 13 kills on a .333 hitting percentage while totaling seven digs and a block. Emily Plumlee followed with six kills on a team-best .357 percentage while adding 4.0 total blocks.
Chattanooga continues play in the Dr. Wynn Invitational hosted by Missouri State tomorrow with a 4:30 p.m. ET match against Big Ten member Illinois. Live stats will be available on GoMocs.com under the schedule page.
Match Stats & Notes
– Ally Ford finished with 13 kills at a .333 percentage … leads team with 169 kills and a 4.02 kills per set average on the season … ranks second with 116 digs.
– Lauren Greenspoon dished out 24 assists … added six digs … carries a 10.52 assists per set average.
– Emily Plumlee totaled six kills at a .357 percentage … added 4.0 total blocks … leads the team this season with 42.0 blocks … has 11.0 blocks in the last eight sets.
– Megan Kaufman aided the defense with 14 digs … now has totaled 261 digs this season … averaging 6.21 digs per set.
– Brianna Anderson made her first start of the season… totaled a season-high five kills and five digs.
Missouri State 3, Chattanooga 0
1st Set | MSU 25, UTC 18
Missouri State started off the opening set of their Invitational by taking ten of the first 15 points before a Mocs attacking error forced a timeout with the score 11-5. Chattanooga claimed four of the next five to pull within 12-9 before the Bears went on a 6-2 spring, forcing the final UTC timeout at 18-11. MSU would close out the set after trading the next 14 points, finalizing a 25-18 set win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
2nd Set | MSU 25, UTC 12
After allowing the first point of the set to the Mocs, Missouri State claimed the next seven points off the serve of three-time All-American Lilly Johnson, amassing a 7-1 lead and forcing the Mocs into a timeout. Extending out to a 17-8 lead, the Bears finished the set off at 25-12 to build a 2-0 lead in the match. For the set, MSU attacked at a whopping .533 percentage while totaling 18 kills.
3rd Set | MSU 25, UTC 18
The Mocs came out of the break looking to extend the match, jumping out to a 6-5 lead before the set was brought to a 9-9 tie. MSU scored the next four points and forced Chattanooga into a timeout, leading 13-9. The Bears extended their run to 8-2, pulling ahead 17-11, and making the Mocs call their final timeout of the set. Chattanooga would battle to cut it to 18-14, but Missouri State totaled three kills and forced four Mocs errors to win the set 25-18 and the match, 3-0.
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