Benavia Jenkins Clinches First Victory at Home

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 11, 2019) —The ETSU Volleyball team and the Wofford Terriers found themselves in their first five-set match of conference play on Friday evening in Brooks Gym. ETSU came out on top in the fifth set to clinch the match 3-2 (25-27, 25-14, 25-18, 23-25, 17-15).

With the victory, ETSU improves to 14-3 (5-0 SoCon) as Wofford falls to 10-9 (3-2 SoCon).

Set 1 (27-25 Wofford): The first set displayed how the rest of the match would go with both teams fighting throughout the frame. The set featured 10 ties and three lead changes. Wofford held the biggest lead of the set with a four-point advantage twice throughout, but ETSU prevailed to take the lead late, 23-22. Wofford took advantage of two blocks at the net in the most crucial point of the match thus far to take the first set, 27-25.  

Set 2 (25-14 ETSU): The second set was just as competitive as the first at the beginning, then ETSU starting rolling. The Terriers had an 8-7 lead before the Bucs jumped out to a 17-11 lead of their own to force a Wofford timeout. ETSU finished the set on an 8-3 run to bring the match to one set apiece. The Bucs hit .321 in the second stanza and held Wofford to .000.

Set 3 (25-18 ETSU): The Bucs’ defense continued to thrive as the match kept going as they recorded five blocks in the third frame. ETSU started the match on a 7-0 rout with seven straight serves from Sara Esposito (Venezia, Italy). The Bucs held a 15-5 advantage before Wofford began putting small runs together as they played catchup, but ultimately could not even the set. The Bucs took a 2-1 advantage in the match after winning the third 25-18.

Set 4 (25-23 Wofford): After a dominating third set from ETSU, Wofford came out aggressive in the fourth frame taking a 13-7 lead. It was ETSU’s turn to play catchup, but like Wofford in the third frame, they could not convert. The Bucs came within one at 20-19, but Wofford ended the set on a 5-4 run to even the match at two sets apiece. 

Set 5 (17-15 ETSU): The fifth set capped off an extremely competitive match. The two teams alternated points until they were knotted up at 15. No team had more than a three-point lead throughout the final frame. It was Wofford’s serve as the set was locked at 15 when Lauren Hatch (Homewood, Ill.) gave the Bucs their third match point with a kill. ETSU’s defense showed up for the last time with a block-assist from Kaela Massey (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Esposito to shut the door on the Terriers and take the match 3-2.

Key stats:

• Olivia Cunningham (Knoxville, Tenn.) showed up strong in front of the ETSU faithful in her first match inside Brooks Gym with a match-high 22 kills, 12 digs and two aces. The freshman completed her third career double-double.
• Massey led the Blue and Gold defensively with her season-best nine blocks (one solo). The captain added 16 kills and seven digs.
• Emily Arnold (Louisville, Ky.) finished with a match-best 49 assists and was strong defensively with 15 digs and two blocks for her third double-double of the season.
• Hatch was one dig shy of a double-double with 15 kills and nine digs. The freshman was strong at the net with three solo blocks and a block assist.
• Sydney Cherney (Knoxville, Tenn.) recorded 13 digs and no service errors while Lundyn Coffman (Nolensville, Tenn.) had four kills and four blocks.
• Popovic dominated the back row for the Blue and Gold logged 22 digs and five assists.
• There was a total of 28 ties and 14 lead changes in the match. The fifth set saw 12 ties and seven lead changes.

Inside the numbers:

• For the first time this season, three Bucs (Cunningham, Massey and Hatch) logged 15 or more kills in the same match.
• ETSU recorded 60+ kills for the second time this season (Coastal Carolina).
• The Bucs are one of three teams who have won their first five matches in SoCon play. Western Carolina and Samford also won on Friday night.
• 16 blocks for ETSU is a season best. It is the most since they had 16 at Chattanooga on Oct. 26 last season.
• The Bucs improve to 3-2 in five-set matches.
• The Blue and Gold have a win streak of seven matches or more in three of the last four seasons.

The Bucs are back home tomorrow to face the Citadel at 3 p.m. Fans can watch the action live on ESPN+.

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