Tuesday, October 03, 2006

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (October 3, 2006) - After dropping the first two games against Chattanooga Tuesday night in Brooks Gym, the Lady Bucs strung together three consecutive stellar frames, and emerged with their fifth consecutive victory, 21-30, 26-30, 30-19, 34-32, 15-5.  In addition to the winning streak, ETSU has also won eight of its last nine matches.

"This was an entire team effort tonight," said head coach Lindsey Devine. "We started slow, but didn't back down and kept fighting to the end.  We showed a lot of confidence, heart and experience in this comeback."

The Lady Bucs (14-5) looked sluggish for much of the opening two games, but exploded in game three with 20 kills against just three errors for a mammoth .548 team hitting percentage.  Senior Sarah Buhr (Stockton, Calif.) pounded out six of her career-high 22 kills in the tide-turning stanza, and seniors Crystal Palmer (Chico, Calif.) and Jennifer Sartor (Toronto, Ontario) added four apiece.

ETSU carried the momentum into the fourth game, building an eight point lead before withstanding a furious Lady Moc rally and holding on to force a fifth game.  Sartor chipped in six more kills in the game, and finished the match with 21; her second 20-plus kill performance of the season..

After pulling out the dramatic win in the fourth stanza, the Lady Bucs cruised past Chattanooga in the decisive fifth game, building a 6-0 lead and capitalizing on eight Lady Moc errors for the easy 10-point victory.

Senior Nani Emerson (Tracy, Calif.) was again superb, amassing a career-high 67 assists in the match.  Junior Callie Kiselich (Colorado Springs, Colo.) put together a double-double with 18 kills and 11 digs on the night.  Junior Kaena Apana (Waianae, Hawaii) dug out 33 balls, topping the 30 dig mark for the second time this season.

ETSU returns to conference play Thursday evening, hosting Jacksonville in Brooks Gym. Match time is slated for 7 p.m.