ETSU volleyball nets best conference finish since 2018 

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Nov. 11, 2022) – The regular season is now complete for ETSU volleyball, as the Bucs finish a championship-worthy campaign with a 3-0 sweep of The Citadel on Friday in Charleston, S.C.

ETSU, who clinched the regular season title and top-seed for the upcoming Southern Conference Championship tournament last weekend, finishes with a 15-1 record in league play — the best finish since 2018.

The Bucs also end the regular season on a nine-match win streak to own a 21-7 overall record. After starting the season with an 0-5 record, ETSU has won 21 of its last 23 matches. ETSU has also went 47-11 in sets during conference play with two sweeps in a row this week.

The Citadel, last season’s tournament champion who could potentially see ETSU again in the first round of the tournament next week, falls to 10-19 overall and 4-11 in SoCon play.

For a second straight match and sixth time this season, junior Jenna Forster (Maryville, Tenn.) led the way in kills with nine and a .421 attack percentage. Freshman Kimani Johnson (Southfield, Mich.) added eight with just two errors on 12 attacks for a .500 attack percentage.

As a team, ETSU had a slight 36-32 advantage in kills, but The Citadel had more than double the errors of ETSU with 23 to end with an .071 percentage. ETSU hit at a .236 clip.

ETSU dominated the first set with a 25-11 win, holding the Bulldogs to a negative hitting percentage while finishing at .357. The Bucs had just two attack errors in the frame, while the Citadel posted 11 mistakes. The Bulldogs improved its hitting in the second frame, but ETSU extended its lead with a 25-19 set win. The Citadel led early in the third set, 10-9, but ETSU later called a timeout and scored six straight to pull away and close it out at 25-16.

Sophomore setter Caroline Dykes (Flower Mound, Texas) finished the regular season with another double-double, totaling 16 assists and 11 digs. She finishes the regular season with 11 double-doubles. Fellow sophomore McKenna Dietz (Gray, Tenn.) was a factor as well with nine assists and seven digs.

Four players had double digit dig totals led by graduate Taylor Roberts (Sneads, Fla.) with 14. True freshman Brianna Cantrell (Appleton, Wis.) has factored in to the defensive side things recently, adding 13 digs. Libero Haley Sanders (Brentwood, Tenn.) notched 12 to go with a combined 18 from the setters.

The SoCon Championship tournament begins on Monday or Tuesday, Nov. 14 or 15, with the No. 8 seed hosting the No. 9 seed. The winner of that match will advance to face the top-seeded Bucs next Friday, Nov. 18 inside Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.

Seeding will be finalized tomorrow after all regular season matches have concluded.

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