ETSU volleyball shuts out in-state rival Chattanooga

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Nov. 9, 2022) – ETSU volleyball may have locked up the 2022 Southern Conference regular season championship this past weekend, but it showed up with a different motivation at Chattanooga on Wednesday.

The Mocs are the only team to beat the Bucs in conference play this season, but ETSU earned its revenge tonight with a 3-0 sweep of its in-state rival inside Maclellan Gym.

Chattanooga scored the first point of the match, but did not lead again until late in the third set. That lead was short-lived, as ETSU finished off a three-set sweep with the final two points.

Junior Jenna Forster (Maryville, Tenn.) had one of her signature takeover matches in the revenge win with a match-high 14 kills and a .303 percentage. She was helped by sophomore setter Caroline Dykes (Flower Mound, Texas) with 16 assists and 11 digs for a double-double.

Dykes had a lot of help on sets tonight with local sophomore McKenna Dietz (Gray, Tenn.) notching a season-high 12 assists.

ETSU moves to 20-7 overall record and 14-1 in conference play, extending its win streak to eight matches. With tonight’s win, ETSU has earned at least 20-wins in three of the last five seasons.

Meanwhile, Chattanooga falls to an even 15-15 overall record and a 9-6 record in conference play. The Mocs remain fourth in the league standings behind ETSU, Samford and Western Carolina.

After starting out with a 4-3 lead in the opening frame, a motivated Buccaneer squad went on a 12-1 run and sailed to a dominant 25-11 set win. The second set was more competitive, but the Bucs never trailed and outlasted the Mocs 25-20. Looking to pull off a similar win to the five-set one in Johnson City, Chattanooga stormed back and found a late lead at 21-20, but ETSU scored five of the next seven points to diminish the threat in the third set.

As a team, ETSU out-killed Chattanooga 46-30 and had a .248 to .111 advantage in attack percentage. Behind Forster’s double-digit night, ETSU had five players with at least six kills. Freshman Kimani Johnson (Southfield, Mich.) stood among those with seven kills on 13 attempts for a .462 percentage.

True freshman Brianna Cantrell (Appleton, Wis.) added six kills and matched libero Haley Sanders (Brentwood, Tenn.) for the team lead with 13 digs.

ETSU’s regular season finale will go down in Charleston, S.C. on Friday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. against The Citadel.

For more information on Buccaneer volleyball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the volleyball page.