Wednesday, November 16, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (November 16, 2005) - After posting an 18-13 regular season record, the ETSU volleyball squad will look to extend its season this weekend at the Atlantic Sun volleyball tournament, hosted by Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.  The six-seeded Lady Bucs draw third-seed Belmont in Friday's first round.

The Lady Bucs, who finished 3-6 in A-Sun action, will look to avenge the season's earlier 3-0 loss to the Bruins.   The first time around, Jennifer Sartor (Toronto, Ontario) was the lone Lady Buc to reach double digits in the kill column in the loss, posting a team-high 10.  The junior also managed a match-best 10 digs, for the afternoon's only double-double.  Belmont enters the weekend with a 20-14 overall record, and a 6-3 showing in Conference.

The winner of the Belmont/ETSU game will take on second-seeded Jacksonville.  The Lady Bucs fell to the Dolphins, 3-1, in Jacksonville, on Oct. 15.  Sarah Buhr (Stockton, Calif.) paced the Bucs with a 12-kill, 14-dig effort in the loss.

On the other side of the bracket, #4 Lipscomb squares off against #5 Mercer, with the winner set to meet top seeded Florida Atlantic.  FAU is the favorite going into the weekend, with an unblemished 9-0 A-Sun record, along with a 27-2 overall performance.

Sartor leads the Lady Bucs with 3.28 kills per game, to go along with 2.36 digs per frame, and a team-best 0.94 blocks a set.  Buhr is right behind offensively with 3.13 k/g and leads the squad with 2.60 d/g.  Sophomore Callie Kiselich (Colorado Springs, Colo.) has also hit well for ETSU, posting a team-best .276 hitting percentage.  Sartor, Buhr, and Kiselich have all cleared 300 kills for the season, with 384, 354, and 307, respectively.

Jennifer Emerson (Santa Clara, Calif.) has been the Lady Bucs' leading setter, putting up 8.21 assists per game, and 961 for the year.  The junior also leads the team in service aces with 40 on the season.

The Lady Bucs will be looking to stop a seven-year losing skid, as the last time an ETSU won a conference tournament game was in 1997.

ETSU plays at 1:30 p.m. CDT, on Friday in Nashville, Tenn.  Live stats and updates will be available at www.AtlanticSun.org.