Tuesday, September 09, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 9, 2008) - The ETSU volleyball team fell in a tight match to USC Upstate in the home opener Tuesday night at Brooks Gym, 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 11-15) .

"I am disappointed that we were not able to close out the game," said head coach Lindsey Devine. "We did not play to our potential tonight."

The Bucs (2-5, 0-1 A-Sun) were led offensively by Mallory Kiley (Palm Harbor, Fla.) who tallied 15 kills in the match. Erin Ryan (Davie, Fla.) and Lauren Baufield (Plymouth, Minn.) each had nine kills for the Bucs.

"Mallory Kiley did a solid job in the middle for us, and I was pleased with her efforts," Devine said. "At moments we showed signs of how good we can be from all the hard work we have put in. Our young players need to learn how to play without panicking, and unfortunately we weren't able to keep our composure."

Junior Amanda Youell (Middleburg, Fla.) had a double-double for the Bucs collecting 18 assists and 14 digs. Whitney Cogburn (Kingsport, Tenn.) led the team with 26 assists, while Jen Neice (Allen, Texas) had 14 digs in the back row.

ETSU is back in action this weekend as the Bucs head to Nashville, Tenn. for a Friday match against Lipscomb followed by a Saturday match against Belmont. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU volleyball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.