Saturday, November 11, 2000

Johnson City, Tenn.-- Senior Courtney Sussillo tallied 12 kills to lead the Bucs for the second consecutive match, but it was not enough to pull the Bucs past Davidson Saturday night as the Wildcats spoiled Senior Night by sweeping ETSU, 3-0.

Senior Night marked the final match at Brooks Gym for seniors Sussillo, Jena Policastro and Kellie Wallace.

The first game was a back and forth affair until the Bucs jumped out to a 8-4 lead. Davidson made a spirited comeback and regained the lead 10-9 before taking the game 15-13. The second game was also close early until the Wildcats opened up an 11-6 lead and took the next six points to close out game two, 15-6. Davidson continued their momentum in the third game, taking an early 4-0 lead, and they never looked back, winning the third stanza 15-3.

The Buccaneers (16-12, 12-8 SoCon) were led by Sussillo and junior setter Carey Cavanaugh who served up 29 assists on the evening. Policastro and freshman Rachel Shifflet tied for the match-high in digs with 17.

Davidson was led by the combination of Erica Schwartz, who tallied a match-high 41 assists, and Mara Mordini, who notched a game-high 20 kills. With the win, Davidson (21-11, 16-4 SoCon) clinches the Southern Conference regular-season championship and the first seed in next weekend's SoCon Tournament.

The Buccaneers will return to action at the Southern Conference Tournament, Nov. 17-19 in Charleston, S.C. ETSU is battling for the fifth seed in the tournament with Western Carolina and will not know their first round opponent until the Catamounts' season concludes tomorrow.