MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — Walters State established itself as the team to beat in Tennessee Community College Athletic Association volleyball play Thursday evening by sweeping visiting Chattanooga State in three games inside 'Z' Buda Gymnasium and Assembly Hall.
The Lady Senators battled through a tight opening set before taking a 25-20 victory, and they blew open a tied set in the second game with a 16-3 closing run to take a 25-12 win into the third game. The final game was nearly a mirror image of the second one, as WSCC pulled away in the middle stages for a lopsided win to complete the sweep.
With the win, the Lady Senators have now won four straight matches and eight of their last 10 outings to improve to 9-5 overall, and they lead the TCCAA with a 2-0 record. Walters State also ran its home record to 2-0 on the season.
The loss dropped the Lady Tigers to 6-6 overall and 1-1 in league play after defeating Cleveland State in four games on Wednesday evening. The defeat also snapped a four-game winning streak for the visitors, and they dropped to 3-2 in road matches.
Chattanooga State scored the first three points of the match, but a Mckenzie Jenkins kill came in the middle of a three-point stretch for the Lady Senators to quickly tie it. WSCC then used a a four-point streak, highlighted by an ace from Lexi Wakefield and a kill from Micayla Vallie to take a 7-5 lead, and the home team did not trail again in the set.
Walters State couldn't fully break clean of the Lady Tigers though, as it remained tight until the Lady Senators used a 5-1 run with back-to-back kills from Vallie to take a 21-15 lead. Chattanooga State was hampered by hitting errors after closing it to 22-20, as the Lady Senators closed the set with three straight points on miscues by the visitors for a 25-20 win.
Walters State jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second game, with Kaley Muncy notching the opening point with a block and Wakefield adding another ace in the opening run. The Lady Tigers battled back to tie it at 9, but a kill from Olivia Kent, back-to-back kills from Vallie and a thunderous kill from Muncy gave WSCC all the momentum. The Lady Senators scored 16 of the final 19 points in the set, taking a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-12 win.
WSCC once again jumped put to a sizable early lead in the third set, building an 8-3 margin after an ace from Dotson, kills from Muncy and Vallie and a block from Rolle. Chattanooga State only briefly cut into the lead, pulling within 10-8, but it was all Walters State from there. Vallie swatted a kill to end the run by the visitors, and a block by Muncy allowed the Lady Senators to push the lead to 17-10. The visitors never got closer than that the rest of the way, as WSCC ended the match with a 25-14 win in the third game.
Vallie paced the Lady Senators with a dozen kills and 17 digs, while Muncy added nine and Jenkins had eight in the win. Dotson dished out 16 assists and Sydney Hurd added 10 assists, while Hayley Wolfe totaled 16 digs the contest. Muncy notched three blocks and Rolle had a pair of blocks in the victory.
The Lady Senators will be back in action Saturday when they travel to Boaz, Alabama, to take on Lawson State and host Snead State in a tri-match beginning at 3 p.m. WSCC also has a road match at Covenant on Sept. 25 and a tri-match with Patrick Henry and Vance-Granville on Sept. 28 before taking on Covenant at home on Oct. 1.