The ETSU volleyball team won the title at the North Carolina Central Tournament by defeating Hampton and South Carolina State on Saturday, to finish with a perfect 4-0 record for the weekend at McDougald-McLendon Gym on the campus of N.C. Central.”Overall a strong weekend of blocking as a team,” said ETSU head coach Lindsey Devine. “The team is recognizing that when we are aggressive at the net it creates big momentum plays.”

The Bucs have now won their second tournament title of 2010 after winning the Radford University Tournament earlier in the season. The Bucs are now 14-5 on the season.

ETSU 3, Hampton 0

(25-23, 25-16, 25-21)

Megan Devine (Kingsport, Tenn.) led the Bucs offensively with 11 kills (11-5-19), while hitting .316. Whitney Cogburn (Kingsport, Tenn.) had a well-rounded match of 27 assists, five kills, four digs and two blocks. Kiley Tamblyn (Torrance, Calif.) led the ETSU defense with 10 digs to go along with three assists and two service aces.

The Bucs finished with a .225-.156 advantage in hitting, while finishing with an 8.0-7.0 in blocking. ETSU continues to lead the A-Sun in that category.

In the opening set, Hampton jumped out to a quick start as they led for much of the set. With the Pirates up 18-15, the Bucs turned it up and put together a string of four straight points to take a one-point lead at 19-18.

With the score tied 22-22, ETSU tacked on two points to make it set point. Following an ETSU attack error that cut their lead to two, junior McKayla Barber (Columbus, Ind.) provided the Bucs with a kill that would give them the 25-23 opening set victory.

In the second set, the score was tied 10-10 but the Bucs went on a 15-6 run from that point on to take the set 25-16.

With the Bucs needing to win one more set to take the match, they jumped out to a big advantage in set number three. ETSU had a 22-16 lead and looked to be close to wrapping up the match; however, Hampton put together four straight points to cut the ETSU lead to 24-21. ETSU senior Erin Ryan (Davie, Fla.) responded by closing the match with a kill.

ETSU 3, SC State 0

(25-14, 25-20, 25-21)

The trio of Devine (8-4-21), Ryan (8-6-21), and Alysa Long (Romulus, Mich) led the way for the Bucs in the final match of the day as each recorded eight kills. Long hit for a game-high .615 for the match as she recorded no errors on 13 attempts, while also leading the team with five blocks. Cogburn had another solid performance of 33 assists, four kills, three aces, four digs and four blocks.

The Bucs outhit S.C. State .250-.06 during the match, while also out-blocking SCSU 7.0-5.0.

ETSU got off to a quick start to the match by controlling the first set the entire way. The Bucs hit .206 in the frame while holding SCSU to a .042 percentage, in taking the set 25-14.

The Bucs again started strong in the second set as they got out to a 15-9 start. The Bulldogs bounced back to cut the lead to one, but the Bucs closed the set strong to take the victory, 25-20.

S.C. State started set No. 3 by taking a quick 6-3 lead. However, the Bucs rallied to tie up the match and eventually closed the match with a 25-21 victory.

ETSU travels to Buies Creek, N.C., next Friday to play Campbell at 7 p.m.

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