CHATTANOOGA, TENN. – Fifth-year seniors Sydney Carlson and Merry Gebel were joined by freshman Ali Morris as each recorded double-doubles on Saturday afternoon, but Western Carolina fell short in its road finale, falling 3-1 to Chattanooga inside Maclellan Gym. The Mocs won by scores of 21-25, 25-22, 19-25, and 22-25.
 
Chattanooga improves to 15-14 overall and 9-5 in league matches while WCU drops to 16-10 and 9-5 in the SoCon.
 
Gebel's double-double was her fifth straight, 11th of the season, and the 66th career double-double as she finished with a team-best 13 kills and 15 digs. Carlson dished out a team-best 24 assists and added 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. Morris logged her first career double-dip with 12 kills and a career-best 12 digs. Junior Destinee Dorsey led the Catamounts with 22 digs defensively.
 
Sydney Hall and Natalie Tyson both recorded 15 kills to lead Chattanooga. Paige Gallentine had a match-high 27 digs.
 
The Mocs led 13-9 in the opening set following a Gallentine service ace and pushed their lead to 19-14 following a WCU error. The Catamounts cut the deficit to two, 20-18, with an Ollie Henderson service ace but got no closer the rest of the way in falling behind, 1-0.
 
A Gebel service ace gave the Catamounts a 9-5 advantage in the early stages of the second set. Following a Hall block that cut the WCU lead to two, 13-11, WCU tallied five of the next six points for an 18-12 lead. WCU led 21-15 following a Chattanooga error before the Mocs battled back within three, 21-18. WCU regrouped following a timeout and clinched the set on a Moc error to even the match.
 
Trailing 7-4 in the third set, WCU cut the deficit to two, 10-8, thanks to a Carlson kill. Chattanooga grabbed control of the set during the middle stages, though, and held off a late WCU charge to grab a 2-1 lead.
 
A Johnna Robinson kill gave the Catamounts a 4-1 advantage in the fourth set and the Catamounts enjoyed an 8-5 edge after a Sarah Janourova service ace. Tied at 11, the Mocs scored three straight points before WCU knotted the set at 15 with a Robinson kill. Chattanooga tallied six straight points for a 21-15 lead. The Catamounts pulled to within two, 23-21, thanks to a Bailey Hartsough kill. The teams traded the next two points before Chattanooga secured the win. 
 
WCU closes out the 2022 regular season with a pair of home matches, the first against UNCG on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required).
 
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