MORRISTOWN, TN – No. 14 Walters State fell to Chattanooga State on Friday evening ,3-1 (26-24, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20), in their conference finale.
With the loss, the Lady Senators fell to 22-5 overall and 7-1 in TCCAA play. Despite the loss, the Lady Senators are still the No.1 seed in next week's Region 7 Tournament.
Friday evening was also Sophomore Night. The Lady Senators honored Eden Aiken, Lauren Mims, Finley Surber, Catherine Sweeney, Alyssa Campbell, Olivia Brown and Sydney Bjornstad before the match.
"This sophomore class has been great to us," Walters State coach Megan Blaylock said. "They helped us get to the national tournament last year and are back-to-back regular season TCCAA champions. I am extremely proud of all of them and am excited to see their success in the future."
Chattanooga State got up 8-3 in the opening set before a kill by Rylee Haynie, a kill by Finley Surber and an ace by Olivia Brown calmed the storm. The Tigers eventually went back up 17-13 and 19-15, but Walters State got a block from Haynie, a kill by Mims, a block by Veda Barton and a kill by Barton to tie the set at 19.
The two teams remained close, but Chattanooga got set point at 24-22. Back-to-back kills by Mims tied things up, but the Tigers got the final two points to take the set 26-24.
In set two, Chattanooga State led 6-4 before Barton had a kill and Mims a block to tie things up. However, the Tigers rallied and grabbed a 16-9 advantage. Needing any momentum, the Lady Senators got it on back-to-back aces by Payton Brown and a kill by Mims to make it 16-13.
Walters State kept the pressure on, and the lead was cut to 18-16 after kills by Barton and Mims. Kills by Haynie and Barton continued to keep the Lady Senators close, but Chattanooga State took the set 25-22.
The third set was back-and-forth as the two teams were tied at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 and 12. Chattanooga State gained a little control at 15-12, but the Lady Senators immediately scored three straight to tie it. Walters State kept the run going with a kill by Mims, and a solo block by Sweeney and assisted block by Sweeney and Campbell gave Walters State a 19-16 lead.
Surber had a kill to continue the charge for Walters State, and Haynie thwarted a Chattanooga State mini rally with a kill to make it 22-19. Back-to-back kills from Haynie and Mims got the Lady Senators to set point, and they converted at 25-23 to cut the lead to 2-1.
However, that was as close as Walters State would get in the match. Chattanooga State broke out to a 14-7 lead in the fourth set and held off any Lady Senators rally to take the set and match at 25-20.
Up Next:
Walters State will close out the regular season on Monday at Bryan College JV. The match is set for 6:30 p.m.
