ETSU’s volleyball team was overpowered by Chattanooga on Saturday and lost to Western Carolina on Wednesday to fall to 3-9 in the Southern Conference.
The Mocs defeated the Bucs in four games Saturday in Chattanooga 30-21, 30-28, 27-30, 30-24.
The loss was the Lady Bucs sixth straight, while UTC enjoyed its third victory in a row. The Lady Mocs upped their record to 7-15 overall and 4-8 in the SoCon while ETSU dropped to 5-15 and 3-9.
The Mocs’ Jody Steinberger finished with 12 digs and two aces and had a dominating presence from the outset as she drilled six kills and had two blocks in game one. UTC hit a rousing .313 at the net to take a 30-21 triumph.
In game two, ETSU led 28-27 but a serving error tied the game. Julie Buck and Kelley Smith assisted on back-to-back blocks for the victory.
ETSU’s Renee Vesey had 12 assists and five kills in the third game as the Bucs fended off UTC’s furious late rally. Meghan Connolly and Karen Freeburg both had six digs in the game and Sara Scandiffio added four kills.
Keri Krouse’s six kills paced UTC in the fourth game, plus she had seven digs and an ace.
ETSU’s loss overshadowed a great all-around game by Vesey who had 10 kills and no errors on 13 attacks for a .769 hitting average. She also had 42 assists, seven digs and two aces. Nicole Ryan had 13 kills and Connolly had 10. Freeburg led the defense with 22 digs while Connolly had 19 and Ryan 10. Scandiffio was in on six blocks.
On Wednesday, Western Carolina fought back after dropping the first game and took the final three games for the 3-1 win over ETSU Cullowhee, N.C.
The Bucs dominated in the first match and never gave up the lead to the Catamounts. ETSU posted 20 kills, 18 digs and four total blocks en route to a 30-28 victory over the Cats.
WCU came alive in the second game. Michelle Gorton served four straight points, including one ace. The Cats won game two, 30-21, after an error by Ryan.
The two teams battled back and forth in the third game and tied it at 14-14 after a kill by Ralph. The Cats edged ETSU after three Buc attack errors in a row to make the score 17-14. The Bucs brought the game to within one on two occasions before WCU pulled away and took the game, 30-22.
Western Carolina took control early in the fourth. The Bucs couldn’t get in sync long enough to catch up, committing 10 attack errors and only adding 10 kills to give game four (30-21) and the match to Western.
Ryan led ETSU with 18 kills and 64 attacks. Vesey posted 48 assists in the match, while Freeburg led the team with 18 digs. Scandiffio had six blocks.
ETSU drops to 5-15 and 3-9 and will return home to host Wake Forest Tuesday in Brooks Gym at 6 p.m.

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