The ETSU women’s volleyball team played against Gardner Webb Aug. 22 at Brooks Gym. In this unofficial match, the Buccaneers started their season off with a bang, securing their victory in the first 3 sets, with a final score of 3-0.
Per the NCAA rules, teams are allowed to have one unofficial scrimmage before the season starts, which is beneficial to the team for a multitude of reasons. Lindsey Devine, the head coach of the ETSU women’s volleyball team, said that the team “wanted to use that scrimmage as an opportunity to prepare us as we head into our championship season” and that having the opportunity to scrimmage against other teams is a “valuable teaching tool, and is also a chance for the coaches to evaluate ‘well where are we in many of the skills that we have been emphasizing in preseason.’”
NCAA volleyball matches are typically the best of 5 sets. The first team to reach 25 points with at least a 2-point advantage wins their set. The Buccaneers started out the match strong with a 25-19 win, never allowing Gardner Webb to take the lead. Their second set was a much closer match, with the final score being 25-22, another ETSU win. With the Bucs only needing to win one more set in order to win the match, Gardner Webb ramped up their power and took an early lead. Halfway through the set however, the Bucs took control over the game and ended the third and final set with a score of 25-14, allowing ETSU to win the match without Gardner Webb winning a set.
Middle blocker Gigi Blair said, “I feel like one thing with our team is that we do a really good job of keeping the same energy and we are very consistent when it comes to that. So when we get into that third set, we still have the same mindset of ‘this could go either way, we have to bring our A-game, we have to bring everything we got and leave it all out in the court.’”
As the official season begins, the ETSU women’s volleyball team will be heading to Columbia, S.C. to compete in the 2-day South Carolina Tournament. The first match will be on August 29 at 6pm versus South Carolina. On August 30, the Buccaneers will have two matches, one at 11am versus Campbell and a 7pm match versus Clemson. Be sure to watch the Buccaneers as they compete this season, if the thrilling exhibition match victory was any indication for how the rest of their season will pan out.
For more information about the ETSU women’s volleyball team, visit their website at https://etsubucs.com/sports/womens-volleyball.
