ETSU was defeated by Davidson 3-0 on Saturday, as the Wildcats won the three-game match with 30-27, 30-19 and 30-23 victories.
The visiting Bucs jumped out to an early 20-12 lead over the sluggish Wildcats in game one. However, Davidson was able to turn things around using a 13-4 run to take its first lead of the contest 25-24. The two teams went back and forth down the stretch before Davidson snuck away with the victory.
Davidson’s offense woke up in the second game as the ‘Cats hit a match-high .333. The Wildcats used a 77-1 mini-spurt in the middle of the game to pull away from East Tennessee State and go up two games to none.
Game three saw the host team win eight of the first 11 points. Davidson would not look back from that point on as the Wildcats prevailed, 30-23.
Nicole Ryan and Kate Steidle each had 11 kills to lead ETSU. Renee Vesey returned to the court after missing the last three weeks due to an injury to contribute 26 assists and a team-high 12 digs.
With the loss, ETSU drops to 5-13 overall and 3-7 in the Southern Conference. The Lady Bucs continue their current stint on the road, when they travel to Western Carolina for a 7 p.m. match Wednesday, Oct. 16.
On Friday ETSU fell to UNC Greensboro 3-2. Scoring went 30-27, 29-31, 24-30, 30-23 and 15-12.
Freshman setter Kristi Robinson was only three assists short of tying an ETSU single-match record with 69, but the Spartans won a pivotal game five, 15-12, to improve their overall record to 4-17 (2-7 SoCon), while the Lady Bucs fall to 5-12 overall and 3-6 in the league.
UNCG opened game one with an 8-1 advantage before ETSU regrouped to close the gap to two points at 17-19, forcing a Spartan timeout. After the short break, UNCG pushed the lead to 21-17 en route to the 30-27 game one victory.
Game two started with the two teams trading points-the Bucs took the advantage at 12-11 on an assisted block by Lissa Allen and Sara Scandiffio. The Spartans responded by regaining the lead 16-15 on a kill by Kim Dayton. However, the lead would not hold as ETSU managed to fight back to edge UNCG in game two, 31-29.
The Bucs started quickly in game three, jumping out to a 13-10 lead, forcing another UNCG timeout. After this timeout, however, the Spartans were unable to rally as ETSU took game three 30-24.
Facing elimination in game four the Spartans played some of their best volleyball of the match. UNCG went up 7-5 after a kill by Holly Long. UNCG cruised from that point pushing the lead to 18-11 and eventually taking the match 30-23.
In game five, the Buccaneers went on a late run to come within one point, 12-11, but UNCG refused to relinquish the lead. The Spartans won game five, 15-12 on an assisted block by Dawn Bright and Kim Dayton.
Five Buccaneers recorded double figures in kills. Led by Ryan with 18 kills and 15 digs, Steidle added 17 kills and a team-high 19 digs, while Meghan Connolly registered 16 kills and 10 digs. ETSU outblocked their opponent 9-8.

Author