Johnson City, Tenn. -- The East Tennessee State University women's volleyball team (15-3) defeats the Gardner Webb Bulldogs (11-15) 3-0 at Brooks Gym Tuesday night.
The Bucs dominated right from the beggining of game one. ETSU won the first game 30-14. In game two, the Bulldogs managed to tie the Bucs 10-10 at one point but could not stay with ETSU. The Buccaneers win game two, 30-19. Game three would see Gardner Webb get within four points of the Bucs but could not get any closer. Bucs win game three 30-21.
This win by ETSU was a team effort. The Bucs were led by freshman Natalie Atzinger who earned 15 kills out of 24 attempts and had two assisted blocks. Sophomore Kate Steidle had a .700 attack percentage with seven kills and no errors on 10 attempts. Freshman Karen Freeburg had 5 kills, no errors and eight attempts. Senior setter Carey Cavanaugh was credited with 46 assists, had seven kills, an ace and seven digs. Senior Amber Ciskowski had five kills, an assist, an ace, and five digs.
The effort the Buccaneers put into their games was evident due to their movement and hitting the floor to get the ball. Cickowski even headed into the ETSU bench and coaches to successfully save a ball from going out of bounds.
The Bulldogs were led by senior Linette Ramseur who had six kills, an ace, five digs and three assisted blocks. Sophomore Sanchia Gool had two service aces on the evening. Freshman Melanie Custer earned 16 assists and an ace.
The East Tennessee State Buccaneers return to action on Friday night, Oct. 26th to host the Furman Lady Paladins in Brooks Gym. The Gardner Webb Bulldogs travel to Spartanburg, S.C. on Oct. 30th to play USC-Spartanburg.