After the ETSU volleyball team’s big victory over Southern Conference preseason favorite College of Charleston Friday night, head coach Deane Webb was a little concerned going into Saturday’s match against The Citadel.
“Anytime you get a big win like that you worry (whether) the team will get too high or too low and be able to get up and focus,” Webb said.
The Bucs, however, had no problem Saturday morning in Brooks Gym, as they swept The Citadel 30-8, 33-31 and 30-12.
The Bucs (9-1, 6-1) only trouble came in the second game, in which The Citadel (4-7, 0-4) pushed ETSU to the limit with both teams going back and forth the whole way. Webb and his players attributed the tough second game to a lack of focus.
“We had a let down in the second game, we didn’t pass the ball as well, it was a lack of focus,” he said. “The Citadel played hard, you have to give them credit, they hustled and fought.”
Senior Amber Ciskowski said: “It was just a lack of focus in the second game today.”
With the Bucs leading 32-31 in the second game, senior Carey Cavanaugh stepped up to serve for the game and gave the Bucs a 2-0 match lead.
The Bucs easily took the final game 30-12 behind strong serving from Ciskowski, Cavanaugh, freshman Karen Freeburg and sophomore Lisa Allen, who served the final point of the match to give her team the victory.
Cavanaugh and Ciskowski led the Bucs with Cavanaugh contributing 35 assists, two kills, two aces and four digs, while Ciskowski tallied nine kills, one ace and four digs.
The Bucs, who were predicted to finish seventh in the SoCon rankings, currently are in second place behind Georgia Southern (6-5, 3-0) in the conference and are not surprised with how they have been playing or with the outcome of Friday’s match with the College of Charleston.
“We had a lot of adrenaline (going into the match) and we were pretty focused,” Cavanaugh said of the Bucs 33-31, 22-30, 30-19, 30-21 victory over the College of Charleston. “We’re impressed with the outcome we had, but we’re not surprised.”
ETSU will next host Davidson on Friday at 7 p.m. in Brooks Gym.

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