Box Score

ELON, N.C. – The Elon volleyball team snapped its four-match losing streak in impressive fashion tonight, Nov. 5, with a sweep of UT Chattanooga (25-23, 25-23, 25-13) in Alumni Gym. The Phoenix improves to 17-13 (5-9 SoCon) on the season, while the Lady Mocs fall to 5-24 (3-11 SoCon).
 
“It was good to see our offense come back to life today, led by Celia (Eddy) who was pretty much unstoppable,” said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. “We were able to block a lot of balls because our servers did a good job of keeping Chattanooga out of system. Our blockers were able to close to the UTC outside hitters pretty well. We came out of the break strong and played consistently throughout the third set to finish off the match.”
 
Junior Celia Rose Eddy led Elon with a career-high 11 kills off 13 attempts with no errors to hit .846. Freshman Danielle Smith recorded nine kills, while seniors Megan McMahon and Nickie Halbert split the passes with 21 and 13 assists, respectively.
 
On defense, senior Caroline Lemke finished with eight blocks, matching her season high. Senior Traci Stewart, freshman Chanelle Smith and Eddy all contributed four blocks each to help the Phoenix out block the Lady Mocs, 12-3.
 
With the first set tied at eight-all, the Phoenix put together a 7-2 run off two kills by D. Smith, one from Lemke and a block by Eddy and sophomore Cali Estes to take a 15-10 lead. Kills from Eddy, D. Smith, Lemke and an ace by sophomore Maggie Reichard kept the Elon lead at five, 20-15. After another kill from D. Smith put the Phoenix at set point, 24-20, the Lady Mocs scored three unanswered to close the gap to one. Elon stopped UTC’s rally with a block by Eddy and Estes to win the set, 25-23.
 
Chattanooga would take the upper hand to start the second set with a 4-2 lead, but Elon scored four of the next six points to tie it up at six-all. Down by three, 16-13, two kills by C. Smith, one from Eddy and an ace by junior Ali Deatsch helped the Phoenix score five straight and take a two-point lead, 18-16. With the set tied at 23-all, back-to-back kills by Eddy gave the Phoenix the win, 25-23, and a 2-0 match lead.
 
The Phoenix opened the third set with a 12-3 run, which included kills from D. Smith, C. Smith, a solo block by Lemke and two blocks by Lemke and Stewart, forcing Chattanooga to use both its timeouts early. Up 14-7, the maroon and gold scored four unanswered to extend its lead to 11. The Lady Mocs would cut the deficit to nine, 19-10, but Elon’s lead was enough to keep the sweep intact as a kill by Estes ended the set in favor of the Phoenix, 25-13.
 
Elon will continue its home stand next weekend with its final two regular-season matches. The Phoenix will play UNCG on Friday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. and The Citadel on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m.