There was a battle in the Blue Ridge this past Labor Day weekend. ETSU volleyball Bucs raided the University of North Carolina-Asheville Volleyball Classic and put a hit on some sound squads.
ETSU fired off the 21-gun salute on Friday, Sept. 1 and gave former SoCon rival University of North Carolina-Greensboro their first loss of the season.
When the smoke cleared at the end of the skirmish the Buccaneers had 21 more kills than the Spartans. ETSU senior Jennifer Sartor was the sharpshooter in the match with nearly 60 percent of her attack attempts tallying kills.
Sartor totaled 45 kills over the weekend and earned all-tournament honors.
The Spartans were paced by freshman Branagan Fuller who had 11 kills. Five Bucs also recorded service aces in that conflict.
ETSU Junior Callie Kiselich put 20 kills away against Cleveland State in the early match on Saturday. The Vikings were on a crusade of their own and managed the win against the Bucs.
Tournament MVP Mel Snyder helped Cleveland State rally in the fifth game of the match after being down 7-1 to the Bucs.
Sarah Buhr, ETSU senior continued a balanced attack in the fight and recorded 16 digs and the same number of kills.
“The whole weekend we had moments of brilliants,” Lindsey Devine, ETSU head coach said. “We also had moments where we had to make quick adjustments,” she said.
Those adjustments paid dividends against host team UNC-Asheville. The Bulldogs have one of the top players in the Big South Conference, Elif Unlu. Unlu tried to put the bite on the Bucs tallying 20 kills in the final match on Saturday.
ETSU’s depth prevailed and senior Crystal Palmer helped the Bucs put the leash on the Bulldogs. Palmer teamed up with Sartor on defense and the two blocked six of UNCA’s hard hit attacks.
After the kills the shovels came out for the Bucs. The Buccaneers worked for 14 more digs than the Bulldogs. Kaena Apana lead the Bucs with 30 digs in the final contest. The Bucs won the match over UNC-Asheville in four games.
Nani Emerson totaled 54 assists in both matches Saturday and finished with 158 assists for the weekend.
Emerson joined Sartor on the Asheville Classic All-tournament team.
After facing Tusculum College Wednesday, Sept. 6, at Tusculum, the Lady Bucs will host their own tournament in Johnson City.
The games will be held in Brooks Gym on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 8-9.

Author