The ETSU women’s volleyball team fell to top-seeded Samford Sunday in the Southern Conference tournament finals, 3-2.
The Bucs rallied from two sets down before Samford rebounded 15-8 in the fifth set.
ETSU opened the tournament against the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
The Bucs crushed the Spartans in four sets winning 3-1 (25-13, 25-18, 29-31, 25-16). The Bucs breezed by the first two sets, but when they approached the third set the Spartans took the lead in the beginning. The Bucs came to a one-point lead making the score 7-6 from that point on. The two teams each received points back-to-back until UNCG overthrew the Buccaneers with two consecutive points earning them their first win 31-29.
The Bucs then came back to win the fourth set 25-26. They proceeded onto the next round of the conference tournament which took place on Nov. 23 against Mercer.
“This is an exciting time for the team,” said head coach Benavia Jenkins. “They have competed hard every match leading into the finals. We must focus on our side and play well with less errors in the championship match.”
On Saturday, the team took on the Mercer Bears, which resulted in a 3-1 win for the Buccaneers (22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-21).
The team started the set off on a loss 22-25 but then came back to win the final three sets with freshman Lauren Hatch (Homewood, Illinois) leading the team with 19 kills throughout the match.
All he sets were very close in scoring, and the Buccaneers prevailed putting them in the conference championship game.
“I’ve worked incredibly hard throughout the season to get to this point, “ said freshman Lundy Coffman (Nolensville, Tennessee). My teammates did a great job setting me up for success, and we took advantage of the matchups we had. This was a huge win, but we have another big match to prepare for tomorrow.”
The Bucs closed the season at 25-6, the second best winning percentage in program history, and were the second seed in the Southern Conference Tournament.
