Walters State battled back from a set down twice on Tuesday evening against No. 18 Chattanooga State but could not take the deciding fifth set, falling 3-2 (25-20, 19-25, 28-26, 17-25, 15-9).
With the loss, the Lady Senators fell to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 in TCCAA play.
"I'm not too upset with our effort tonight, but our performance was lacking," Walters State coach Megan Blaylock said. "Chatt State is a good ball team, but we had so many unforced errors. This was a good, competitive match that we will study and improve from. I'm proud of the girls for fighting for five sets, and I am looking forward to seeing Chatt again."
Despite the loss, the Lady Senators showed fight as new and old faces made impacts. That included freshmen Maddie Rockrohr, Haylee Richardson and Mattie Davis.
It was Chattanooga State that started the match off strong with the first five points of the opening set. The Lady Senators got on the board thanks to a Jordan Moore kill and block and then cut the lead to 7-6 when Sidney Keck had a kill and Bella Webb an ace.
Chattanooga State held onto the lead from there and built it to 17-12 before a Keck kill and Rockrohr kill made it 17-14. At 18-15, Rockrohr served an ace and forced a Chattanooga State timeout.
From there though, the Lady Tigers would regain the momentum and take the first set, 25-20.
In set two, the roles reversed as Walters State started off strong with a 4-1 lead. Chattanooga State would bounce back to tie the set at five, six and seven, before Davis had a block and Richardson a kill.
However, Chattanooga State would once again take the lead back and make it 15-11 before the Lady Senators scored four straight to tie it. Rockrohr had a kill during the run.
Chattanooga State briefly took the lead back at 16-15, but that was the last time they led. The Lady Senators took the lead on back-to-back kills from Rockrohr and then made it 19-16 on a block from Mackenzie Sweigart and kill from Webb.
Walters State continued to add to their lead and took the second set, 25-19, to tie the match. The Lady Senators finished things off with kills from Sweigart, Rockrohr and Richardson.
In set three, it was back-and-forth again as Walters State got up 5-1 before the Lady Tigers came back and kept it close. For the Lady Senators, Sweigart and Moore had a block while Halyn Long had an ace to get them going early in the set.
At 8-4 in favor of the Lady Senators, Chatt State scored three straight before Walters State built the lead back to three. The lead eventually grew to 19-14 as a Long ace forced a timeout by Chattanooga State. Moore, Rockrohr and Sweigart had kills that built the lead.
Following the timeout, Chattanooga State regained their composure and cut it 20-19 to force a Walters State timeout. A kill by Richardson stopped the bleeding until Chattanooga State took the lead at 23-22.
Walters State had a chance to take the set, still, as a Moore kill and then block gave them the lead at 24-23. Chattanooga fought it off, though, and eventually took the set at 28-26.
With their backs against the wall, the Lady Senators responded with a dominating 25-17 set four victory.
In the set, the two teams battled to a 9-9, 10-10 and 11-11 tie before Chattanooga took the lead and held it until it was 14-13. The Lady Senators tied the match at 14 on a kill from Sweigart and then took the lead for good on a kill from Rockrohr.
After the Rockrohr kill, Walters State was dominant as they built the lead and ended the set with five straight points. Davis had a block and kill on that run while the set finished with a Moore kill, Sweigart kill and Webb ace.
With the match on the line, the two teams traded points until the set was tied at 4-4 when the Lady Tigers rallied off five straight points. The Lady Senators tried to battle back, but Chattanooga State took the set and match.
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