ETSU volleyball hosted the Buccaneer Classic in Brooks Gym this past Friday and Saturday, with Georgia State University, Clemson University and University of South Carolina Upstate in attendance.
The first game for the Bucs was against Georgia State, in which they took their first sweep of the season. The Buccaneers took set one 25-18 and sets two and three 25-19, giving them a 3-0 win against the Panthers.
The second game on Friday against Clemson University took five sets. ETSU came out on top of the first set after closing the gap and fighting as each team scored points back and forth. The first set score was 26-24.
The Tigers came back to win set two 25-12 and set three 25-27. The Buccaneers battled back and won the final two sets to win the game, set four being 25-23 and set five 15-12.
The final set was anyone’s game at first with ETSU taking the lead until Clemson came back and made the score 12-9. ETSU earned the next six points in a row to win the set and the match.
“We knew that we had to go back to the basics. We knew we had to play as a team and that we could do this as long as we focused on the little things and stayed together throughout everything, we would be fine. We carried on the energy throughout all the sets, pulled through and played together,” said sophomore Caroline Dykes (Flower Mound, Texas).
The energy in Brooks Gym on Friday night was high with an attendance of 771 people and the ETSU women’s basketball team cheering on the volleyball team.
“I have to give a lot of credit to our student base because they killed it. I think with all of their energy and excitement that they brought this weekend really helped us win that huge match against Clemson,” said head coach Benavia Jenkins. “I’m hoping that with them being out, it will inspire them to come to more of our volleyball matches. Now they see how fun it can be, especially the energy they bring.”
The Bucs faced the Spartans on Saturday for the final game of the Buccaneer Classic. USC Upstate came out with the first set to win 28-26. ETSU then came back to win the next three sets 25-20, 25-18 and 25-17.
During the start of the final set, both teams were fighting for the points, each scoring points to keep the scores tied until ETSU broke the 9-9 tie with an eight consecutive point streak making the score 17-9. The Spartans continued to fight back, but in the end, the Buccaneers took the game.
“I’m glad that we pulled through and we came together as a team and trusted each other to finish it out,” said freshman Brianna Cantrell (Appleton, Wisconsin).
The Buccaneer Classic was the first home series since 2016, and the Buccaneers took the win of the series.
“Congratulations to our team, I think they played really well this weekend,” said head coach Benavia Jenkins.
The team will be on the road for the Stacheville Challenge on Sept. 16-17 before coming back home for the first conference match against Wofford on Friday, Sept. 23.
