One streak came to an end Friday night in Brooks Gym for ETSU volleyball, but the important one remained intact.
Chattanooga came out and halted the Bucs’ stretch of 14 consecutive individual games won, but The Bucs recovered to extend their match-winning streak to a school-record-tying 10 games by a score of 26-30, 30-13, 30-25, 30-24.
“We worked hard,” senior Carey Cavanaugh said after racking up 41 assists, 11 digs and eight kills. “We were forced to work hard.”
Head Coach Deane Webb said, “Carey Cavanaugh just hustled her tail off tonight.”
Jessica Miller’s 18 digs also impressed the coach.
“That’s a ton of digs for a four-game match,” Webb said.
The number 18 was also the total of kills for Kate Steidle, who added seven digs to boot.
Amber Ciskowski hit double figures in digs with 10, and nearly did the same with her nine kills, while Karen Freeburg sprang for 12 digs, leaving her two assists shy of a double-double.
Though the Bucs (13-1, 9-1) have jumped out to their best start in team history, they seem not thoroughly enchanted by their impressive numbers.
“I had no idea that we had won 14 games in a row,” Webb said, a fact that was lost on several of his players, as well.
Thus, the loss of the first game didn’t have too much of an impact on their confidence.
They responded with their most impressive game of the night, outscoring the Mocs (10-7, 3-6) 22-5 after an 8-8 tie in game two.
“I don’t think we were ready to play (in the first game),” sophomore Lissa Allen said after compiling 11 kills and seven digs.
“Our ball control tonight wasn’t as crisp,” Webb said.
Yet to go along with such uncharacteristic mistakes, the quality play of the Mocs, he said, made the Bucs have to work harder.
“They’re a good team,” the first-year coach said of his opponents. “They have some good players.”
The last time those players saw this Bucs’ team, times were different. ETSU was coming off its only loss of the young season, to Western Carolina, going into the Sept. 7 matchup at Chattanooga.
Webb’s team took that match by the same 3-1 margin, and since, the Bucs have lost but three games on their tear through the Southern Conference.
Another key difference in Friday’s match is the upcoming schedule for the Bucs.
They could easily have been caught looking ahead to their grudge match with the Catamounts and their Saturday match with Georgia Southern, who invaded Brooks Gym less than 17 hours after Friday night’s completion.
“We prepared for (Friday’s) match,” Webb said, pointing to the team’s attention this week during practice on defending the unusual jump serve they would see from Chattanooga.
The time crunch was created by the need to play matches postponed from the week after Sept. 11.
Though Webb maintained “it’s not a problem” for the players, three games in four days is “a little more than what we’re used to,” he said.
One player who is not intimidated is the freshman Freeburg, from Newcastle, Indiana. She was recruited by Western Carolina and nearly became a Catamount.
“It was horrible,” she said of losing to them on Sept. 4.
Thus, she was anxious to put the ball in the air Saturday.
“I can’t wait,” she said.
Notes: The Bucs are currently tied for first place in the Southern Conference with the College of Charleston with a record of 8-1.
Western Carolina, which the Bucs host on Monday at 7 p.m. in Brooks Gym, is currently in second place with a record of 8-2.

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