If you were not in Brooks Gym on Tuesday night you missed a thriller.
After 21 ties and eight lead changes the volleyball Bucs finally wore the Moccasins down. “This was a wake-up call,” said head coach Lindsey Devine.
The Bucs dropped the first two games of the match with Chattanooga in the best out of five series.
Jennifer Sartor remembers battling the Mocs in the Southern Conference. “We are in a different conference but Chattanooga will always be a rivalry,” Sartor said.
The Mocs are 4-1 in the Southern Conference and intended to walk into Brooks and hook the Bucs.
“We played sluggish and went into the locker room down 0-2,” Nani Emerson said.
Sarah Buhr said, “We knew we hadn’t shown our true colors.”
Buhr also knew the momentum had to shift for the Bucs. “We went in the locker room and said we are going to take it to five games ladies,” she said.
The locker room chat spurred the Bucs to an easy win in the third game. The fourth was not as simple. There were five lead changes and nine ties in the fourth game alone.
The Bucs earned 30 points first but needed to win by a margin of two. The Mocs tied the conflict at 30, 31 and 32 before the Bucs won the game 34-32.
Sartor put a couple of key kills away in the fifth game to give the Bucs a comfortable lead. ETSU came out on top 15-5 in the tie break. “This was a huge character builder for us,” Buhr said.
Buhr totaled 22 kills in the rivalry to lead all scorers. Sartor put down 21 kills and Leslee Ball had 19 for the Moccasins.
ETSU volleyball is currently ranked second in Atlantic Sun standings and playing for seed position in the conference tournament.
The Bucs are at home Thursday at 7 p.m. versus Jacksonville and on Saturday at 4 p.m. against North Florida.

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