JACKSONVILLE – Four players finished in double-digit kills and Jacksonville State hit .283 as a team, but that offensive explosion was not enough as the Gamecocks dropped their 2023 home opener to Chattanooga, 3-1, on Tuesday evening. 
 
"I thought we played really hard," head coach Derek Schroeder said. "We're still such a new team to starting and being an important cog in the wheel. We came out with a ton of emotion in set one and the crowd really helped us. I think I was the only one on our bench that knew at some point that was going to run out and we'd have to rely on execution. We did a good job of battling back in the third and fourth sets, and I was really happy with their serving and defense."
 
Jacksonville State (2-8) seemed to shock a veteran Chattanooga (9-2) squad in the opening set, rolling to a dominant 25-18 victory. The Gamecocks, who have struggled on offense at times in non-conference play, hit sub-.400 in the first interval to take an early advantage. UTC went on a slight run to begin the second and, despite a comeback attempt by the Red-and-White, Jax State's self-inflicted wounds led to a slim 25-21 setback to tie the match.
 
The third set saw both teams carry momentum early on. Schroeder's squad won three of the first four points before the Mocs rebounded with a spurt of their own midway through, claiming as large as a six-point advantage. Once again a rowdy Pete Mathews Coliseum recharged Jacksonville State's bunch who quickly cut the deficit to one. Unfortunately, they could not get over the hump and lost by the slimmest of volleyball margins, 25-23. A similar tale was told in the fourth as Jax State attempted to climb back from an early hole but could not claim the lead, dropping the set, 25-21, and the match.
 
The Gamecocks out-hit Chattanooga .283 to .245 and finished with six more kills than the visitors from Tennessee. As fate would have it, 16 attack errors and 16 service errors spelled doom in the first home match of the Schroeder era. 

"We only averaged four service errors per set, so I'm not worried about that number," Schroeder said. "With our size we have to be a very aggressive service team. While I'm not worried about the number, I am worried about the timing of them. We had two errors coming out of timeouts and that can't happen. It'll just take more reps and more putting ourselves in situations where we'll be confident to execute when called upon back there."
 
Maddie Stayer had a team-best 14 kills, five digs, and three blocks and Stavroula Papazoglou was right behind her with 13 kills and four digs. Morgan McClure added 11 finishes on a .417 clip and two blocks while Prairie View A&M transfer Kaylee Moseley scored 11 kills, four digs, and two blocks on the night. Freshman Hana Aiana, who helped create some scoring runs for the Gamecocks in her first home match, ended up with nine kills, a .563 hitting percentage, three blocks, two digs, and two assists. 
 
Coming off a strong weekend at the USI Invitational, Ellie Garrett notched match-bests with 43 assists and 18 digs against the Mocs. Brooklyn Schiffli, who logged her third straight start at libero, had 15 digs.
 
"The crowd tonight was really cool," Schroeder said. "I didn't know what to expect to be honest, with it being a Tuesday match for my first home game, and their enthusiasm was extremely fun. 
 
"Every time our defensive specialists dove on the floor or made a play then everybody on the gym was excited," Schroeder said. "Nothing beats having an intelligent, focused crowd that knows the ins-and-outs of game. Whenever someone made an impressive play, the crowd understood that that was their role and that it was important, so I loved it."
 
The Gamecocks return to play next weekend at home against Sam Houston in the opening weekend of Conference USA play. Jax State meets the Bearkats at 6 p.m. Friday at Pete Mathews Coliseum before concluding the series at 1 p.m. Saturday. Only Friday's match will be broadcasted on ESPN+. 
 
"I'm excited to be playing at home on Homecoming Weekend," Schroeder said. "If there are any alumni coming in, I'd love to hear from them. I'll be sharing posts on social media and saying that we'll be around and would love to meet anybody who is coming to town. If you want to watch a team play hard and play fast, then we're the team to watch. I don't know how many wins we're going to find, but we're going to play hard and be exciting to watch."
 
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