Revenge is always sweet.
The East Tennessee State Volleyball team defeated the Chattanooga Mocs on Oct. 12 inside of Brooks Gym. This win makes the Bucs 6-0 at home and tied with Chattanooga for No. 1 in the Southern Conference.
“Bucs backing Bucs, we love that,” said ETSU Head Coach Lindsey Devine. “Our crowd is always supportive of us. Anyone should have such pride about their gym, and traditionally, we’ve always been that way. These girls know that it’s an honor to play in here. They know it’s an honor to continue the tradition of past players, so with the fans and knowing what’s at stake, it’s important to own your own house.”
Earlier in the season on Sept. 30, the Mocs defeated ETSU in Chattanooga 3-1.
“I feel like we’re stronger as a team mentally and physically,” said Hailey Aguilar (Oswego, Ill.). “We’re following the game plan coach gives us. We played our own game.”
This rival was one to watch last season, and it seems that this year is no different.
In the first set on Wednesday night, the Bucs went on a 13-16 run to build momentum that would last the entire set. UTC came close, only down 22-16, but the Bucs scored three of the last five points to put the set away 25-18.
The Bucs would continue to put on the pressure in the second set.
ETSU went on a 13-0 run from the performance of sophomore setter Alyssa Kvarta (Crown Point, Ind.) and never looked back.
“These are things that we have been reinforcing all year,” Devine said. “She was able to demonstrate the things that we’ve been talking about.”
Braina Allmon (Flower Mound, Texas) and AJ Lux (Shelbyville, Ind.), completed five kills each for the Bucs in this set. Lux ended with a .714 hitting percentage. The Bucs ended the second set 25-15.
The final set looked nothing like the first two, as the Mocs would not allow themselves to be outscored for the majority of the set. The Mocs led the majority of the set until the Bucs went on a 6-2 run to give the Bucs a 21-18 lead. The Mocs got back within one, but a pair of clutch blocks from freshman Kaela Massey (Brentwood, Tenn.), with help from teammates Lux and Allmon, put the Bucs farther ahead.
With her 14th kill of the night, Allmon put the match away, ending the set 25-20.
On the Friday and Saturday following the game against Chattanooga, the Bucs defeated Wofford and Western Carolina, improving their overall record to 14-6 and 6-2 in conference play.
