Friday, September 06, 2002

Birmingham, Ala. (September 6, 2002) -- Head coach Deane Webb's East Tennessee State volleyball team, fresh off of a victory at home last Tuesday, carried the winning momentum into this weekend's University of Alabama-Birmingham Tournament. The Buccaneers knocked off Tennessee State in their opening match, 3-1, but fell victim to a red-hot Troy State squad, 3-0. The Bucs (2-4) took the first two games from the Tigers of Tennessee State, 30-16 and 30-27 before TSU pulled off a 31-29 decision to force a fourth game. In the final game it was ETSU that got the job done with a dramatic 32-30 victory to seal the match. However, ETSU's win streak would stop at two as Troy State (5-1) continued it's dominant pace. The Lady Bucs converted on just .115 of their attack attempts and the Trojans forced seven receiving errors, which led to the 30-19, 30-28, 30-28 defeat. Despite the outcome of the second game, there were many positives that East Tennessee State can take into tomorrow's match versus tournament host, UAB. Junior Kate Steidle (Waynesboro, Va.), who began the 2002 in a bit of a slump, busted out in a big way with 19 and 16 kills, respectively. In the first match, Steidle hit a season-high .368, while freshman Nicole Ryan (Etiwanda, Calif.) continued to be a presence up front with 22 kills to lead the team. The Buc defense continues to improve every game with sophomore Karen Freeburg (Newcastle, Ind.) at the helm. Freeburg tallied 16 digs against Tennessee State and 22 against the Trojans. As mentioned, the Buccaneers will be in action on Saturday morning when they face the Blazers of UAB in Bartow Arena. The match is scheduled to get underway at 11:00 a.m. CT.