It was a bittersweet home opener for the Lady Bucs Volleyball team.
The Lady Bucs started their SoCon competition Friday, against the Appalachian State Mountaineers and against the Western Carolina Catamounts Saturday.
The Bucs won the first two games against the Mountaineers but were unable to keep the momentum going. The 3-2 loss (30-30, 33-31, 22-30, 17-30, 8-15) dropped the Bucs to (1-10, 0-1) in SoCon play and raised the Mountaineers to 8-5, 1-0.
The first game went in the Bucs favor, taking the lead at 7-6. In the second game the Lady Bucs started out trailing the Mountaineers 0-3 but were able to tie it up at 4-4, and then grabbed their first lead at 8-7.
The Bucs then went on a 3-0 run, which was answered by Appalachian State with a 5-0 run. The Bucs were able to tie the Mountaineers with a kill and tip by Callie Kiselich. An ace by Andrea Piercy put the game away 33-31.
“The way we practiced in practice had come through, the consistency and discipline,” ETSU volleyball coach Lindsey Devine said of the teams performance.
After intermission the momentum changed in Appalachian State’s favor. In the third game, ETSU recorded a .200 hitting percentage compared to Appy State’s .308. Kali Rumberger of Appy State served a game point out of bounds to keep the Lady Bucs in the game.
Kiselich was able to make it 22-29, but that was the last point for ETSU as App. State won the match 22-30.
Game four started out with the Mountaineers taking the lead 0-1. ETSU was able to tie it up 2-2, but the Mountaineers then went on an eight-point streak to make the game 3-10. ETSU was never able to catch up with the Mountaineers. The Bucs recorded a .068 hitting percentage in game four, the lowest of the match.
Kiselich led the Bucs against the Mountaineers tallying 19 kills. Jennifer Sartor and Sara Scandiffio also played a big part with 16 and 14 kills, respectively.
“We needed to play just like we did in the first two games,” Devine said. “The girls are just as talented as the other team. It was a mental game. They just fell asleep.”
On Saturday the Bucs faced the Western Carolina Catamounts winning the match 3-2 (30-24, 25-30, 30-20, 22-30, 15-4).
This win was the second win for the Lady Bucs improving to 1-1 in SoCon action. The Catamounts fell to 4-6 on the season, 1-1 in SoCon play.
Brittany Kessel racking up 13 assists and three digs led the first game, while teammate Jennifer Sartor recorded five kills. In the third match, the Lady Bucs gained an early lead with Scandiffio leading the way with five kills and one block.
The Bucs also recorded four aces. For the match, Kessel had 54 assists while Kiselich and Scandiffio both tallied 14 kills. Karen Freeburg also had a big game with 11 kills and 20 digs. The Bucs defense tallied eight blocks while Western Carolina recorded five.
This weekend the Bucs also played host to the visiting alumni who were present at the games and even participated in a game against the Lady Bucs on Saturday.
“There is a good response. The alumni are back to support (the Lady Bucs), which reinforces the hard work they put in everyday,” Devine said.
The Lady Bucs have had a long road trip to start their season. Devine was pleased to finally be the home team.
“We’re glad to be home,” Devine said. “The crowd was great.”
The Lady Bucs will be back in action on Sept. 30 at Davidson, starting at 6 p.m.
The next home game will be Oct. 6 against UT-Chattanooga at 7 p.m.

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