GREENSBORO, N.C. (Sept. 28, 2019) – ETSU’s volleyball continued their success on the court with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 31-29) sweep of the UNCG Spartans. The Bucs are 2-0 to begin conference play for the first time since rejoining the SoCon in 2014.  

With the victory, ETSU improves to 11-3 (2-0 SoCon) as UNCG falls to 6-10 (0-2 SoCon).

Set 1 (25-22 ETSU): ETSU led from the start 1-0 and never gave up the lead with the only tie coming at 15-15. The Blue and Gold went on a 6-1 run from that point to hold a 21-16 lead, and they never looked back. The Spartans inched closer with a 3-0 lead to force a Buccaneers timeout up 23-20. The Bucs closed out the set off of two Spartan errors to take a 1-0 advantage in the match.

Set 2 (25-23 ETSU): The Bucs came out strong in the first set hosting a 10-3 lead. The Spartans slowly started a comeback with small 2-1 runs throughout the frame but were never able to catch ETSU. UNCG came within one at the end of the set, but a kill from Lauren Hatch (Homewood, Ill.) capped off the set for the Bucs 25-23. Lundyn Coffman (Nolensville, Tenn.) entered the frame without an attack attempt, but logged four kills on seven attempts to enter the intermission with a match-high .429 attack clip.

Set 3 (31-29 ETSU): After not giving up the lead throughout the first two sets, ETSU fell behind for the first time all evening 4-3 in the third frame. UNCG held the lead throughout going up as many as six with a 20-14 advantage. Out of the timeout, ETSU jumped on a 7-1 run to take their first lead since the beginning of the set. UNCG was up 24-23 before the Bucs battled off two Spartan set points to bring the match to 26-26. The Bucs and the Spartans battled to bring the set to 29 points apiece before the Blue and Gold won the next two off of kills from Kaela Massey (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Olivia Cunningham (Knoxville, Tenn.).

Key stats:

• Hatch was strong all around the court with a match-high 17 kills in the back row and a team-best .259 hitting percentage. The freshman finished one kill shy of a double-double.
• Emily Arnold (Louisville, Ky.) proved crucial at the net with three kills and none more crucial than an attack on UNCG’s set point in the third frame up 26-25. Arnold continued to lead the squad with 36 assists; she logged two aces and a block assist.
• Cunningham and Massey finished with double-digit kills for the fourth match in a row with a combined 24 kills. The two hitters combined for 14 digs.
• Marija Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia) started at libero for the Bucs and logged 15 kills in the back row and was second on the squad with six assists.
• Coffman and Sara Esposito (Veniza, Italy) combined for nine kills and three blocks.
• Neither team hit above .300 in any set throughout the match.

Inside the numbers:                           

• Hatch’s 17 digs marked a career-high. Her previous best was 14 vs Georgia State.
• Massey’s five block assists this weekend bring her career total to 296 which ties her for fifth-best in program history (Jamie Stancliff, 2008-11; Callie Kiselich, 2004-07).
• With their win in the third frame, the Bucs improve to 11-0 this season when they win the third set.

ETSU is back in action next weekend for one more road weekend of competition before returning home. The Bucs head west to face Chattanooga on Friday night before heading to Mercer on Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup.

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