RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 3, 2005) - The Lady Buccaneer volleyball team finished its opening weekend with a win and a loss on Saturday, as ETSU dropped a hard-fought 3-2 decision to Virginia Commonwealth, and rebounded with a 3-1 win over Radford at the VCU Third Degree Sportswear Invitational in Richmond, Va.

"They worked really, really hard all day," third-year head coach Lindsey Devine said of her team's performance.  "They hustled and played consistent all weekend and it was a real collective team effort in the win over Radford."

ETSU, which now stands at 2-1 on the year, took the first game from the Highlanders, 30-26, before dropping game two, 30-23.  The Lady Bucs would fight back and take game three and four in decisive fashion, winning 30-24, and 30-18.

Junior Sarah Buhr (Stockton, Calif.) led the Bucs in the victory, posting a team-high 18 kills and eight digs.  Senior Sara Scandiffio (Purcellville, Va.) added 14 kills, followed by sophomore Callie Kiselich (Colorado Springs, Colo.) with 13.

Junior Jennifer Emerson (Tracy, Calif.) was solid at setter all day, providing 36 assists against VCU and another 55 in the win over Radford.  The junior also hit .545 in the Radford match, belting six kills on 11 attempts.  Also tough on defense, Emerson added 13 digs, just ahead of Kiselich with 12.

Radford's Elizabeth Aldredge led the Highlanders with an 18 kill, 14 dig effort, as her team fell to 2-3 for the year.   

The Lady Bucs came out to a slow start against VCU, falling 30-17 in game one.  The tide turned in games two and three, as ETSU recovered, besting the Rams, 30-27, 30-27, to take the 2-1 advantage.  VCU would outlast ETSU in games four and five, securing the match with 30-22, and 15-9 victories.

Junior Jennifer Sartor (Toronto, Ontario) paced the Lady Bucs against VCU, slamming 17 kills on 34 attempts for a match-high hitting percentage of .353.  Buhr added 13 kills, while junior Brittany Kessel (Libertyville, Ill.) chipped in with eight.

Defensively, Emerson led the team in digs with 12, followed by Sartor and Kessel with 11 apiece.

VCU junior Ludmila Francescatto led the Rams with 20 kills, followed by teammate Renata Salvatori with 10.  With the victory over ETSU, VCU improves to 4-1 on the season.

Devine added that VCU recently defeated Pacific, a perennial NCAA tournament participant, giving the Lady Bucs additional confidence after narrowly missing an upset win over the Rams.

"Now we understand that we've really raised our level of play," said Devine from the road.  "We are really capable of great things this season."

The Lady Bucs will be in action at home this week, as they host Wofford at 7:00 p.m., in Brooks Gym, in Johnson City, Tenn.