ETSU volleyball kept on rolling Friday night, dispatching a Davidson team, which was picked before the season to finish second in the SoCon, in a three-game sweep.
“We haven’t even reached our peak,” said sophomore Jessica Miller, who delivered three service aces, helping the Bucs to their eighth-consecutive victory by a 30-13, 30-20, 30-25 tally.
Setter Carey Cavanaugh again played a starring role, almost accounting for a triple-double in just three games as she piled up 32 assists, eight kills and eight digs.
Yet the theme for the Bucs (7-1, 11-1) was balance, especially on offense, as only Kate Steidle recorded double figures in kills, with 10. The solid Buc defense continued with Steidle, Amber Ciskowski and Karen Freeburg all recording at least 10 digs.
Though the scores tightened as the match went on, head coach Deane Webb attributed that to a Wildcat charge, and not a lack of focus by the Bucs.
“I think Davidson really played better as the match went on,” Webb said. “Our work ethic was very good tonight.”
Indeed, the Wildcats, who were thoroughly dominated early on, threatened to extend the match when they rallied to tie the third game at 20 all.
Despite the eight kills and ten digs of Meredith Lorenz and the 22 assists of Nicole Tonelli, head coach Tami Darwin’s club was soon forced to call a timeout after ETSU grabbed the next two points.
After the break, the Bucs made it 23-20, and the Wildcats would not recover.
“We held them off,” Miller said.
With the win, Webb has successfully piloted the team over the first test of a month that has been the Bucs’ Bermuda Triangle in recent years.
Last year the Bucs left September with a 7-1 record and entered November at 12-7.
“October’s always been our down little area,” senior Ciskowski said earlier in the season.
The question remains, then, whether the Bucs can deal with success. Webb, no stranger to winning no matter the month in his previous coaching stops, said he has already seen an improvement of the team’s reaction to winning.
After winning the first tournament of the year at Winthrop, “they didn’t handle it too well,” according to Webb, and were dealt their only loss, on Sept. 4 at Western Carolina.
But this time, the focus remains constant.
Now, the Bucs will simply seek to round out their game.
“We’re really working on things,” Ciskowski said, seconding her coach, who said there was still polish to be put on the offense.
Improved passing and ball control, two elements on which the Bucs have been working since preseason, will now allow the Bucs to try to quicken the pace of attack, Ciskowski and Miller explained.
While there may be some room for technical improvement, the intangibles all seem to be in place as ETSU challenges the bewitching month.
“It’s something in the air,” Cavanaugh said of their enthusiastic play. “We were everywhere.”
NOTES: The Bucs are currently ranked eighth in the NCAA South Region released last Tuesday.
The only other Southern Conference team in the top 10 is College of Charleston in 10th.
Florida is ranked first in the South Region.
Cavanaugh currently leads the conference in assists per game (12.23) while Allen is ranked third in the conference with a .328 hitting percentage.
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