Appalachian State rallied from a 2-1 set deficit to down ETSU 3-0 (25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 17-25, 7-15) Tuesday night in the home opener for the Bucs at Brooks Gym.With the victory, Appalachian State moves to a perfect 4-0 on the season while the Bucs fall to 1-3 on the year.

ETSU came away with 62 kills for the match compared to just 44 for Appalachian State; however, the Bucs recorded 46 attack errors to just 19 for the Mountaineers. The Mountaineers outhit ETSU .181 to .089.

After ETSU defeated ASU 25-20 in the third set to take a 2-1 lead, the Bucs started out strong in the fourth set. An Alysa Long (Romulus, Mich.) kill put the Bucs up 3-1 but the Mountaineers would string together six straight points to take the 7-3 lead. With ASU in front 11-10, freshman Summer Kremer (Mills River, N.C.) provided an instant lift off the bench for the Bucs as she provided a game-tying kill. However, that was as close as ETSU would get in the frame as Appalachian State reeled off eight straight points to help close out the set, 25-17.

Meghann Forshey led the Mountaineers with 10 kills on 23 attempts for a team leading .304 hitting percentage on the night. Maggie Seeds also recorded nine kills on 23 attempts.

Long led the ETSU offense as she recorded 13 kills on 32 attempts for a .250 hitting percentage. Erin Ryan (Davie, Fla.), Megan Devine (Kingsport, Tenn.) and McKayla Barber (Columbus, Ind.) each had double-digit kills as well. Whitney Cogburn (Kingsport, Tenn.) finished the match with the first ETSU double-double of the year after dishing out 46 assists to go along with 11 digs. The 46 assists was also a new career high for Cogburn. She also had five kills and three blocks. Kiley Tamblyn (Torrance, Calif.) and Lauren Baufield (Plymouth, Minn.) also combined for 28 digs on the night. Tamblyn finished with a game-high 18 digs.

The Bucs started out the match strong after taking the opening set 25-21. Long and Barber were instrumental in the set having combined for 10 kills. Long hit .714 for the set while Barber hit .667. Ryan also contributed four kills as the Bucs outhit the Mountaineers 19-9.

ETSU jumped out to a quick 4-0 advantage in the third set after a Devine kill. The Bucs would never trail in the set as they came away with a 25-20 victory. Devine paced the Bucs in their third set victory as she recorded seven kills in 11 attempts for a .545 hitting percentage.

In the fifth set, Appalachian State jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage and maintained the lead throughout to close out the final frame, 15-7.

The Bucs will be back in action this weekend as they travel to Radford, Va., for the Radford Tournament. ETSU will face off against Canisius, Davidson and Norfolk State.

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