The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team will host the Scenic City Showdown this weekend at Maclellan Gym.
The Mocs have gone 2-1 in consecutive weekends, hosting another tournament two weeks ago before winning two matches also in the Maroon Classic at Mississippi State last weekend. Their only losses have been in five sets to Valparaiso and in four to the host Lady Bulldogs in Starkville.
UTC will play Alabama-Birmingham this evening at 6, before matches against Gardner-Webb and Austin Peay on Saturday.
"We have three matches - three opportunities to be locked in at 100 percent of the time," UTC coach Travis Filar said in a release. "And that's challenging in volleyball because there's no dead time. A point is scored every serve."
Seniors Sarah Batterton and Briana Reid were named all-tournament at the Maroon Classic. Each finished with 30 kills in the three matches, with Batterton recording 16 and Reid 15 against Mississippi State. Catherine Chason had 42 digs.
"We dug a lot of hard-driven balls over the weekend, especially against Mississippi State," Filar said. "Our defenders becoming more and more comfortable with that will create more opportunities for us to score."
Katie Loftin, who prepped at East Hamilton, is a senior libero/defensive specialist for Gardner-Webb. She's played in each of the team's eight matches, averaging just over two digs per game for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Gardner-Webb's coach is Leo Sayles, who was the Bryan College coach from 2004 to 2010.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.