Saturday, September 19, 2009

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 19, 2009) - The ETSU volleyball team picked up its second straight win as the Bucs swept Mercer Saturday afternoon at the University Center in Macon, Ga., 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-18).

"This is second match in a row that we have blocked well," said head coach Lindsey Devine. "That is definitely a carry over from practice, and a team understanding of how practice can make us better in games. We played very focused and aggressive volleyball. The support from the bench really pushed the people out on the court to play to the team's level of expectation."

Erin Ryan (Davie, Fla.) had a team-high 13 kills against the Bears. Whitney Cogburn (Kingsport, Tenn.) and McKayla Barber (Columbus, Ind.) also had double-digits kills as Cogburn posted 12 kills, while Barber had ten kills hitting .471 in the match.

Amanda Youell (Middleburg, Fla.) quarterbacked the ETSU offense tallying 41 assists, seven digs and five blocks. Ashley Rosenboom (High Springs, Fla.) led the Bucs defensively as she had 13 digs on the day.

ETSU jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead in the first set, but the Bears rallied back to tie the set at 11-all. The Bucs regained the lead on a couple kills by Ryan, and held on to win the set on a Ryan kill, 25-22.

In the second set, play was back and forth until the Bucs used a 5-1 run to take a 17-13 advantage. Mercer came back using a 5-1 run of its own to tie the set, 18-18. ETSU couldn't pull away late in the set as the Bears tied the match six times down the stretch. With the score tied 25-all the Bucs got a big kill from Alysa Long (Romulus, Mich.) and a block from Long and Youell to win the set 27-25, and take a 2-0 lead into the break.

The Bucs came out hot in the third set again jumping out to an early lead. ETSU used a 5-2 run to take a five-point advantage, 13-8. Mercer cut the Buccaneer lead to 13-10, but wouldn't come any closer as the Bucs closed out the match on a block by Cogburn and Barber to win the set 25-18.

The Bucs (5-7, 4-1 A-Sun) head to Boone, N.C. Tuesday at 7 p.m. to take on Appalachian State in a non-conference match. For more information on Buccaneer volleyball and all other Buccaneer athletic news, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.