Massey Hits Over .600 For Second Game This Season

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Sept. 13, 2019) – ETSU’s volleyball was back to its winning ways on Friday afternoon with a 3-0 sweep of Alcorn State (25-16, 25-22, 25-18). The Bucs improve to 6-1 with the victory.

Set 1 (25-16 ETSU): Like the majority of first sets for the Blue and Gold this season, the first frame was back and forth at the beginning. The Bucs went on a 6-0 run with two kills from Kaela Massey (Brentwood, Tenn.) and kills from Sara Esposito (Venezia, Italy) and Lauren Hatch (Homewood, Ill.) to take a 14-7 advantage. ETSU didn’t look back and finished the first set on a 7-1 run to take the game 25-16.  

Set 2 (25-22 ETSU): The Bucs got off to a hot start in the second set with Lundyn Coffman (Nolensville, Tenn.) contributing early with three kills on the first four ETSU points. Alcorn St. battled back with a 6-1 run to bring the set to 17-16, but the Lady Bears never took the lead. Esposito ended the frame with her sixth kill of the match to give the Bucs a 2-0 advantage in the match.   

Set 3 (25-18 ETSU): ETSU took the momentum from the second set and took a 4-0 lead in the third game of the match. Like the second set, Alcorn St. tied the frame twice, but the Bucs never gave up the lead. Freshman middle-blocker, Sidney Sherrill (Knoxville, Tenn.) shined in the third frame with a match-high four kills and served the four final points of the set. The Bucs took the third set 25-18 to clinch the victory.  

Key stats:

• Massey continued to dominate at the net with a .677 attack clip (10-for-15). Esposito joined the senior as the only two players in the match to log 10 or more kills. Esposito led all players with 11 hitting .429.
• Sherrill finished with a match-high six blocks and two solo. She set a career high in that category and kills (five).
• Emily Arnold (Louisville, Ky.) and Mary Catherine Smith (Murfreesboro, Tenn) shared duties at the setter position combining for 39 assists. Smith’s 18 helpers mark a career high for the sophomore.
• Hatch finished one kill shy of a double-double hitting .300 and adding 10 doubles to her line. 

Inside the numbers

• Prior to last weekend, Massey had never hit above .500 in her career. Since, she has hit above .600 in two out of the previous three matches.
• Three Bucs had nine or more kills. Alcorn St. had no players with more than six.
• Sherrill marked a career-high with five kills in her second career start, her previous high was three.
• Smith set a career-high in assists (18) and digs (4). She also slotted the first ace of her career.

The Bucs are back in action tomorrow at 1 and 5:30 p.m. EST to face Georgia State and UAB. Live stat links are available at ETSUBucs.com. Fans can watch the UAB match for a one-time fee.

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