The volleyball team has traveled far and wide to face tough competition over the Southern region.
This weekend the Lady Bucs traveled to West Lafayette, Indianapolis to compete in the Mortar Board Premier hosted by Purdue.
The Kentucky Wildcats, Purdue Boilermakers and Central Michigan Chippewas were the competition this past weekend for the Lady Bucs.
The first game was against the Wildcats of Kentucky. Kentucky proved to be a strong team and won the match 3-0 (26-30, 21-30, 27-30). ETSU could not stop Kentucky’s Sarah Spinner who racked up 14 kills in the match.
During the first game ETSU was able to record a .361 hitting percentage, while Kentucky posted a .326 percentage. Defense was better on Kentucky’s side with 10 blocks to ETSU’s 9.5.
Callie Kiselich lead the Bucs with 11 kills, 3 block assists, and a .400 hitting percentage. Sophomore Jennifer Sartor notched 8 kills, 3 assists and 13 digs, while lone senior Karen Freeburg added 9 kills and 8 digs.
Saturday morning the Lady Bucs woke up to face the hosting team, Purdue. The Boilermakers won 3-0 (12-30, 22-30, 16-30). In the first game Purdue managed to gain a big lead going 21-6 against ETSU. Purdue posted a .576 hitting percentage, while ETSU was held to .000. Purdue’s Kim McConaha managed 3 kills in the game.
The second game started off with an ETSU lead 4-2, but Purdue pulled ahead 14-13. The Lady Bucs battled back hard, but were unable to match the 7-1 Purdue run went on. Sarah Scandiffio was able to post an ace to make the game 27-22, but Purdue pulled out to win the game.
The final game also started out with an ETSU lead, but was soon turned in the Boilermakers’ favor. Purdue posted a .556 hitting percentage. In the match , Kiselich posted 8 kills, while Brittany Kessel managed 23 assists.
The last match of the day, against Central Michigan, showed a strong performance on both sides of the net. The match ended in the Chippewas favor 3-2 (30-28, 30-15, 28-30, 23-30, 7-15). ETSU was out-blocked again 12-11.
Many players contributed to the Lady Bucs offense including Kessel who came up with a combined total of 44 assists against the Chippewas, while Kiselich posted 10 kills, and Freeburg tallied 15 digs, a team high.
Also recognized at this tournament was sophomore Jennifer Sartor who was named to the All-Tournament Team, along with five players from the other teams.
Sartor posted 24 kills, 9 blocks and 29 digs to earn her a spot on the team. Sartor’s best performance was against Purdue where she tallied 2.18 kills per game and a .333 hitting percentage.
The next game for the Lady Bucs will be the season home opener, where they will face Appalachian State on Friday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. and Western Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 25, at 2 p.m in Brooks Gym.
Alumni festivities will also be going on this weekend for the Lady Bucs.

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