Lindsey NewellAllie Davenport had 19 kills and 12 digs as the top-seeded University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defeated Western Carolina 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in the Southern Conference volleyball tournament quarterfinals at Cullowhee, N.C. The Mocs (25-5) will play fifth seed East Tennessee State at 2 p.m. today after their 25-22, 29-27, 25-19 victory - the program's first SoCon tournament win since 2007 - that included comebacks from 21-18 down in the first set and 16-11 down in the second. Madison Bergren had 44 assists and 14 digs for UTC, while Briana Reid had 12 kills and 19 digs and Catherine Chason had 30 digs.
Running
* Dalton State's Spencer Head and Emily Poole had All-American finishes in the NAIA national cross country meet Saturday at Charlotte, N.C. Head was eighth individually in 24.47.9 in the men's 8-kilometer race, and teammate Paul Patterson was 39th as Dalton State was 11th out of 36 full teams. A runner from the Roadrunners' league, Geoffrey Kipchumba from William Carey, won in 23:55.00. Bryan's Griffith Rutherford was 41st. Poole was 21st out of 321 finishers in the 5k.
* Ryan Shrum of East Ridge won the Alzheimer's Run to Remember 5k on Saturday at the Tennessee Riverpark in 17:49, and Rachel Harbarger of Chattanooga was the women's winner and eighth overall in 21:50. Justin Collins and Shane Wright were second and third in 18:26 and 18:39, Will Otis was fourth in 20:23 and Sam Boozer was fifth and the masters winner in 20:57. Clare Mills was the female masters winner.
Softball
* Taylor Moran and Lindsey Newell played softball together at Heritage High School and are in their third years at Silverdale Baptist Academy, but they will be separating next summer to nearby Gulf South Conference rivals. They had a joint ceremony at SBA to celebrate Moran's signing with Lee University and Newell's scholarship to Shorter. "Both have been a blessing for our program," SBA coach Tim Couch said. "They are more than just softball players: They have been outstanding students and, most of all, Christ-like examples of what we want our school and softball program to represent." Moran has batted .468 with seven home runs and 51 doubles for the Seahawks and went 24-8 as a pitcher with a 2.12 earned run average and 163 strikeouts. Newell, primarily a first baseman, hit .426 with four homers and 24 doubles. She said she had talks with UTC and also considered Lee and Trevecca Nazarene, but "Shorter just seemed like the right fit. They offered what I want to major in and they have a real good softball program. I really like coach Al Thomas." Moran visited Lincoln Memorial, East Carolina and Georgia College in addition to Emily Russell's program at Lee but said she "knew" the Cleveland school "was a place, first of all, I could grow spiritually and I could grow academically, and the athletics was a plus. I definitely wanted to sign early and get it out of the way so I could have fun my last (high school) season."
Basketball
* Union University women's basketball coach Mark Campbell said early signee Megan Lewis from Silverdale Baptist Academy "is one of the best 3-point shooters in the state of Tennessee." In an announcement release Friday, Campbell said Lewis "is also a perfect fit for our program because of her character. She wants to give her best effort in every area of life."
Soccer
* Cleveland senior Sam DeBien and Soddy-Daisy junior Anna Lanter were two of the forwards listed on the Tennessee High School Soccer Coachers Association Class AAA all-state girls' team for 2015, and Girls Preparatory School senior Keyle Snyder and the Baylor trio of senior midfielder Chloe Maize, junior midfielder Kamryn Bloh and sophomore forward Lainee Bohannon were among Division II-AA selections. The Chattanooga area had five Class A/AA picks: senior forward Riley Engles from Signal Mountain, senior midfielder Hannah Dearing from Notre Dame and senior midfielder Leah Hoffman, sophomore forward Olivia Hoffman and freshman defender Kate Dirkse from Chattanooga Christian.
Swimming
* Girls Preparatory School senior Susanna LaRochelle broke meet and pool records in the 200-yard individual medley (2:02.81) and 100 backstroke (55.80) and led off the winning 200 medley relay in the 23rd annual McCallie Invitational swim meet, and GPS was second to Harpeth Hall in the 23-team girls' standings with McCallie third in the boys' standings behind Collins Hill and combined champion Wesminster. McCallie's Jon Pat Ransom won the 100 freestyle. (See Monday's sports section for all area top-three event finishers.)