Bucs eyeing eighth straight win in Brooks Gym

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 3, 2014) – Coming off an emotional five-set victory over Chattanooga on Saturday, the ETSU volleyball team looks to extend its home win streak when the Bucs host Western Carolina on Tuesday night. First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside Brooks Gym.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BUCS

Despite winning the first two sets in fine fashion, the Blue and Gold couldn’t put away a stingy Chattanooga squad until ETSU rallied and survived an emotional five-set thriller (25-21, 25-15, 18-25, 18-25, 16-14) in front of a rowdy Homecoming crowd on Saturday night inside Brooks Gym.

Senior libero Katie Muey (Alexandria, Ind.) broke ETSU’s career digs record in the win over the Mocs. Muey entered the match needing 13 digs to break the record and finished with a match-high 24, moving her career total to 1,701 digs.

Fellow seniors Meredith Hardy (Kingsport, Tenn.), Bethany Gesell (High Point, N.C.) and Ivey Rice (Johnson City, Tenn.) paced the Blue and Gold offensively as they combined for 49 of ETSU’s 65 kills. Hardy led all players with 20 kills (.349 attack percentage), Gesell posted her fourth double-double of the season (16 kills/14 digs), and Rice totaled 13 kills and also combined with junior Khadijah Wiley (Columbus, Ga.) for the match-clinching block in the fifth set.

As a team, ETSU was plus-19 in kills (65-46) and also finished with 90 digs. Freshman Rylee Milhorn (Kingsport, Tenn.) and junior Ashleigh Shain (Geneva, Ill.) both registered career highs by posting double-digit digs. Milhorn finished with 19 digs and Shain added 15 in the win.

ETSU won its seventh straight home match and improved to 12-15, 6-5 in SoCon play following the victory over Chattanooga.

ABOUT WESTERN CAROLINA

The Catamounts (14-12, 7-5 SoCon) are one of the hottest teams in the conference as Western Carolina has won seven of its last eight matches.

Western Carolina is coming off a four-set win over Chattanooga on Friday night in Cullowhee.

As a team, the Catamounts rank second in the SoCon in blocks (2.27) and digs per set (16.31), while also ranking third in service aces (1.42) per set and attack percentage (.218).

Individually, senior outside hitter Jordan Timmermann ranks seventh in the conference in kills per set (3.02), while Addy George (0.97) and Katie O’Connor (0.94) are sixth and seventh in blocks per set, respectively.

The Catamounts are 6-1 in five-set matches this season, but 11 of their 12 losses have come away from Cullowhee.

SERIES HISTORY

Tuesday marks the 58th all-time meeting and Western Carolina holds a slight 29-28 lead after defeating ETSU in five sets last month in North Carolina.

Despite last month’s setback, the Bucs have won five of the last eight in the series.

Hardy and Rice both posted 20-plus kills in last month’s match at Western Carolina. Hardy finished with a match and season high 21 kills and eight blocks, while Rice totaled 20 kills and eight digs; however, ETSU couldn’t overcome its 36 attack and 10 service errors in the match. Gesell and sophomore Kristen Favre (Plano, Texas) both totaled double-doubles in the setback. Gesell ended with 17 kills and a career-high 31 digs, while Favre, who notched her first collegiate double-double, added 54 assists and 12 digs. Muey posted a career-high 40 digs, which were three shy of breaking the program single-match record.

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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