No. 4 ETSU faces No. 5 Western Carolina Saturday in Greensboro

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 17, 2014) – After waiting a few days to iron out the wrinkles for seeding in the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship, ETSU learned on Monday it will face Western Carolina this Saturday in the quarterfinals of the single-elimination tournament. First serve is set for noon inside Greensboro’s Fleming Gym.

The Bucs, who tied for second in the regular season, earned the No. 4 seed after the conference tiebreakers were played out, while the Catamounts secured the fifth seed. ETSU and Western Carolina split the season series as both teams won on its home floor.

The Blue and Gold were tied with Samford and UNCG for second, but Samford earned the No. 2 since the Bulldogs split the season series with regular season champion Furman, while ETSU and UNCG – who split the regular season head-to-head meetings and finished with identical records against the rest of the conference – determined its seeding based on RPI rankings. The Spartans held an RPI of 154, compared to ETSU being at 174.

ETSU (17-15, 11-5 SoCon) carries a six-match win streak into the conference tournament, while the Blue and Gold defeated the Catamounts in the previous meeting back on Nov. 4 inside Brooks Gym. Western Carolina won the first meeting last month in Cullowhee. Both matches went five sets.

Saturday marks the 59th all-time meeting between the two programs and the series is all-square at 29, but the Bucs have won six of the last nine over the Catamounts. ETSU and Western Carolina have met six times in the SoCon Tournament with the Catamounts winning four of those matches.

This season, senior libero Katie Muey (Alexandria, Ind.) averaged 7.30 digs (73 total) in the two matches versus Western Carolina, while fellow senior Meredith Hardy (Kingsport, Tenn.) posted 4.20 kills (42 total) and 1.10 blocks per set (11 total). Sophomore setter Kristen Favre (Plano, Texas) registered double-doubles in both matches against the Catamounts and senior Bethany Gesell (High Point, N.C.) had one of her four double-doubles versus Western Carolina as well. Favre totaled 91 assists, 27 digs and five service aces against the Catamounts, while Gesell finished with 17 kills and a career-high 31 digs in the five-set loss in Cullowhee.

The ETSU/Western Carolina winner faces the winner of Furman/TBD in Sunday’s semifinal match. Furman plays the winner of Wofford/The Citadel in Saturday’s quarterfinal match. 

The quarterfinals and semifinals will be broadcast live on the SoCon Digital Network, while Monday’s championship match will be aired live on ESPN3.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the UNCG ticket office at (336) 334-3250. Below are the ticket prices for the SoCon Championship:

Adult: $8/session

Youth (ages 6-12): $5/session

Groups (10+): $3/session

Students with valid SoCon ID: Free

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