Bucs eyeing sixth straight home win

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 20, 2014) – Coming off weekend wins over Wofford and Mercer, the ETSU volleyball team looks to cap off its homestand win a perfect mark as the Bucs host The Citadel on Tuesday night inside Brooks Gym. First serve is set for 6 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BUCS

ETSU (10-13, 4-3 SoCon) is coming off a four-set win over Mercer on Saturday inside Brooks Gym.

Senior Katie Muey (Alexandria, Ind.) and freshman Rylee Milhorn (Kingsport, Tenn.) both posted double-doubles, while senior Meredith Hardy (Kingsport, Tenn.) finished with a match-high 19 kills (.516 attack percentage) and five blocks. Muey collected her first collegiate double-double after recording 19 digs and 10 assists, while Milhorn also bagged the first of her career by totaling 13 kills and 10 digs.

The Bucs finished plus-24 in kills, 57-33, and plus-11 in digs, 62-11, while ETSU also registered eight service aces and held the Bears to a .077 (33-23-130) attack percentage.

Three different Buccaneers dished out double-digit assists as senior Jamie Rutledge (Kingsport, Tenn.) paced the Blue and Gold with 23 and sophomore Kristen Favre (Plano, Texas) added 19 assists and eight digs.

Following her stellar weekend, Hardy was named Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week earlier on Monday.

ABOUT THE CITADEL

The Bulldogs have dropped four straight matches and enter Tuesday’s conference game with a record of 6-17, 0-8 in SoCon play.

The Citadel is led by junior outside hitter Bailey Kernodle as she’s averaging a team-best 2.62 kills per set.

As a team, the Bulldogs are averaging 1.59 blocks per set; however, opponents have totaled 140 service aces compared to 77 by The Citadel.

Fifteen of The Citadel’s 23 matches have been decided in three sets with the Bulldogs going 1-14 in those contests.

ETSU VS. THE CITADEL

The Bucs have won all 11 previous meetings over The Citadel.

Tuesday’s match marks the first between the two programs since ETSU swept the Bulldogs back in Oct. 16, 2004 in Brooks Gym.  

NOTABLES

Katie Muey leads all active NCAA Division I players in sets played (470) and ranks 18th in total digs (1,626), while Meredith Hardy is second in blocks  (581), eighth in sets played (454) and 42nd in kills (1,195).

This season, Muey ranks sixth nationally in total digs (464) and Meredith Hardy is 12th in total blocks (107). Muey’s 33-dig effort in the win over Lehigh back in Sept., ranks second among NCAA players in a three-set match this season and her 40 digs at Western Carolina are tied for the sixth-most by a player in a five-setter. Meredith Hardy’s 12-block effort in the win at George Mason earlier this year broke an ETSU single-match record, while it also tops all NCAA players in a three-set match this season.

As a team, ETSU ranks 21st nationally in total blocks (209) and 29th in digs (1,349).

ETSU’s 130 digs in the five-set match at Western Carolina (Oct. 12) are the fourth-most by a team this year.

Muey moved into second-place all-time on the ETSU digs list and is 64 digs shy of becoming the all-time Buccaneer career leader.

During ETSU’s five-match home win streak, the Bucs are averaging 13.7 kills, 1.65 service aces, 15.6 digs and 2.1559 blocks per set. Meredith Hardy is averaging nearly four kills per set (3.90) and hitting .395 (78-18-152) during this stretch, while Katie Muey is posting 6.35 digs per set. Kristen Favre has accounted for 179 of ETSU’s 252 assists over the last five home matches.

Meredith Hardy has recorded at least one block in 116 straight matches.

Coach Devine is three wins shy of recording No. 200 for her career.

COVERAGE

Tuesday’s match will be video streamed live on the SoCon Digital Network, while live stats will be provided via StatBroadcast.

Twitter updates will also be available by following @ETSUAthletics and @ETSUVolleyball.

TEXTCASTER

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