Final Stats |   

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina volleyball team took the 2015 regular season champions to the brink but Chattanooga proved too much as the Mocs hung on for a 3-2 victory inside the Ramsey Center. Prior to the match the Catamounts honored their three seniors and all three had outstanding performances in the match.

Senior Nicole Ford had a match-high 12 blocks which ranks tied for third in the WCU single match record book. Her 12 block assists also rank second in block assists in a match. Senior setter Cristina Nazario turned in a double-double with 18 assists and 17 digs while senior libero Elyssa Mulheron led the team with 20 digs.

Sophomore Jo-Leigh Vervelde was on the brink of a historic match as she was just two blocks shy of a quadruple-double. She had to settle for her NCAA leading 10th triple-double of the season with a team-high 12 kills, 18 assists and 18 digs. Her eight block assists is tied for ninth in the single game charts.

As a team, the Catamounts had 16 total blocks which is tied for seventh in WCU history for a single match.

Helping offensively, freshmen Devan Ingram and Alyssa Zupan each finished with eight kills in the match.

WCU took the early 2-0 lead after winning the first two sets 25-22 and 25-17 but Chattanooga stormed back to claim a dominating 25-14 win in the third set. The fourth set was back-and-forth but the Mocs pulled away for a 25-17 victory and in the final set it was tight most of the way but a late run gave UTC the 15-11 victory.

The Mocs had four players reach double-figures in kills including Allie Davenport (26), Briana Reid (17), Kristy Wieser (16) and Sarah Batterton (10). Catherine Chason had a match-high 35 digs as five Mocs reached double-figures in the category.

UTC had 32 more kills than the Catamounts and out-dug WCU 122-89.

WCU limited its attacking mistakes to just 12 while the Mocs committed 31 errors in part due to WCU's 16 blocks.

With the win the Mocs claimed the out-right 2015 Southern Conference Regular Season Championship.

WCU will now turn its attention to next weekend's 2015 Southern Conference Championship. The Catamounts will serve as hosts of the event on Nov. 21-23. Brackets and match times will be released later in the week so check back on CatamountSports.com for official times and dates.