East Tennessee State’s volleyball team wrapped up its regular-season Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 loss to Davidson in Brooks Gym. The loss put the Bucs in seventh place in Southern Conference standings as Appalachian State defeated UNC-Greensboro in three matches to claim the sixth spot in the league.
The Bucs, who finished 8-22 overall and 6-14 in the SoCon, would have automatically qualified for the SoCon tournament with a win, but Davidson (22-10, 15-5) refused to back down.
“We lost some momentum after losing game one,” ETSU head coach Deane Webb said. “From that point on it was like we were playing from behind.”
Both teams played a sloppy first game with four service errors each; however, it was the Wildcats who persevered with the 30-28 victory. ETSU retaliated in game two, enjoying a 19-10 advantage, but the ‘Cats managed a late rally to tie the game at 29, before the Buccaneers escaped with the 31-29 win. Davidson controlled much of game three with a 30-24 decision and sealed the match with a 30-25 victory in game four.
The Bucs were led by Kate Steidle, who had a team-high 18 kills followed by Nicole Ryan’s 17 kills. Renee Vesey led the team with 50 assists, served up four aces and put forth a good defensive effort with 12 digs. Katie Ralph had 7 block assists, while Sara Scandiffio registered five block assists and one solo block.
Roberta Quis paced the Wildcats with 23 kills and a match-high hitting percentage of .459. Nicole Tonelli dished out 55 assists. Defensively, Kaitlyn Martin led Davidson with 18 digs.
ETSU’s tournament hopes are still alive. The Bucs received the seventh spot in the SoCon tourney with Appalachian State’s defeat of UNC Greensboro.
More details regarding the Southern Conference tournament will be released once the final draws are set. The tournament will be on Nov. 22-24 in Davidson, N.C.

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