Sunday, September 02, 2001

ROCK HILL, SC-East Tennessee State University rode the shoulders of MVP setter Carey Cavanaugh to the championship of the Microtel Inn & Suites Winthrop Invitational that concluded Saturday. The Buccaneers defeated Georgia Southern and the host Winthrop Eagles to finish with a 3-0 record. Georgia Southern took second place with a 2-1 record while Winthrop finished 1-2 and Georgia State was fourth at 0-3. With Cavanaugh at the controls, ETSU opened the day with a 3-2 win over Georgia Southern in a battle of Southern Conference foes. The Bucs won the match in typical fashion as they took game one 30-20 before dropping the second and third games 30-27 and 30-22 to find themselves in a big hole. ETSU tied the match with a 30-27 hard-fought win in game four and then won the deciding game 15-12. The Bucs produced a balanced attack on offense and defense as six players reached double digit kills and six had double figures in digs. Karen Freeburg, who joined Cavanaugh on the All-Tournament Team, led ETSU with 16 kills and 20 digs. Cavanaugh finished the match with 59 assists. GSU's Susan Bindshedler led all hitters in the match with a .500 attack percentage with 18 kills while Martina Veiglova led five Lady Eagles in double figure digs with 18. ETSU claimed the tournament crown with a 3-1 win over Winthrop. The Bucs won game one 36-34, dropped game two to the host Eagles 30-27, but then swept the final two games 30-19 and 30-17. Cavanaugh again had 59 assists to go along with 10 kills from her setter position. Freeburg led the offense again with 23 kills and a .391 attack percentage. Winthrop's Erin Lehman led the Eagles with 15 kills while Anna Vagstad finished with 17 digs.