Tuesday, September 22, 2009

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 22, 2009) - The ETSU volleyball team dropped a close match to Appalachian State Tuesday night at the Holmes Center in Boone, N.C., 3-2 (22-25, 25-11, 25-16, 18-25, 11-15).

"My hope is the team learned a valuable lesson from this match," said head coach Lindsey Devine. "When you open a small door for your opponent they are going to take it. ASU took advantage of that small opening and got momentum forcing our players to make many errors. We as a team must hold ourselves accountable, and take care of the little things."

Erin Ryan (Davie, Fla.) led the Bucs offensively with a team-high 17 kills, while McKayla Barber (Columbus, Ind.) posted 11 kills hitting .455 on the night. Senior Amanda Youell (Middleburg, Fla.) tallied her third double-double of the season as she had seven kills, 44 assists, 11 digs and five blocks.

Whitney Cogburn (Kingsport, Tenn.) had a good all-around performance totaling nine kills, eight assists and ten digs, while Desiree Dyck (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan) led the team defensively with nine kills and 15 digs.

In the first set, the Bucs jumped out to a 9-6 lead, but the Mountaineers went on a 4-1 run to tie the match at 10-all. After the Bucs tied the match 11-11, Appalachian State took a 12-11 lead on a kill by Kelly Rhein and went on the win the set 25-22.

The Bucs came out on fire in the second set using an 11-4 run to take a 14-5 advantage. ETSU went on to win the set 25-11 as Barber had seven kills in the set.

ETSU carried its momentum into the third set taking a quick 7-2 lead. The Bucs used a 10-4 run to extend their lead to 17-6. An error by the Mountaineers closed out the set as the Buccaneers took a 2-1 lead into the fourth set.

Play was tight in the fourth set until with the score tied 8-all ASU went on a 6-1 run to take a 14-9 advantage. The Buccaneers cut the lead to 16-15 after a Dyck kill, but the Mountaineers held on to win the set 25-18.

In the final set, Appalachian State got out to a 7-4 lead, but ETSU answered tying the match at 8-all. A couple plays later the Mountaineers regained the lead on a Maja Jechorek kill, as they went on to win the set 15-11.

The Bucs (5-8, 4-1 A-Sun) are back in action on Saturday at 3 p.m. as they host Campbell. For more information on Buccaneer volleyball and all other Buccaneer athletic news, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.