SPARTANBURG, S.C. (Nov. 16, 2023) – Fresh off a four-set win over UNC Greensboro on Tuesday, the ETSU volleyball team will take on No. 1 seed The Citadel on Friday in the Quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament. The match, which will be played at Wofford, is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
MATCH INFORMATION
Friday Nov. 17 / No. 8 ETSU vs. No. 1 The Citadel / 2 p.m. / Live Stats / ESPN+
ABOUT THE BUCS
- As mentioned earlier, ETSU knocked off No. 9 seed UNC Greensboro in four sets (25-12, 26-24, 22-25, 25-17) on Tuesday night in the first round of the SoCon Tournament. The victory improves ETSU's record to 6-22 on the season.
- A trio of Buccaneers scored in double figures on Tuesday. Brianna Cantrell led the way with 12 kills and a pair of aces. Jenna Forster totaled 11 kills and attacked at a .296 clip. Finally, Lundyn Coffman picked up eight kills of her own and added a solo block to go with four block assists. Defensively, Malgorzata Andersohn led the way with 17 digs to go with her 23 assists and Jasmal Cruz was not far behind with 15 digs.
- As the Bucs try to keep their season going this weekend in Spartanburg, a player to watch is Abbey Thomas. Thomas enters this weekend's action ranking third in the SoCon in blocks per set (0.93). With one more denial this weekend, Thomas will be just the third SoCon player to record 100 blocks this season joining Wofford's duo of Sarah Barham and Millie Loehr.
- This marks ETSU's 30th appearance all-time in the Southern Conference tournament. ETSU is 22-24 all-time in the event and have won three SoCon Tournament titles with the last being in 2017. Furthermore, Tuesday's win over UNCG marked ETSU's first postseason win since 2019.
ABOUT THE CITADEL
- The Citadel is coming off a historic regular season. The Bulldogs went 24-2 overall and 14-2 in SoCon play en route to their first regular season title in school history.
- The Bulldogs' .929 winning percentage of 2023 ranks fourth in the Division I volleyball trailing only Nebraska (1.000), Dayton (.935) and Western Michigan (.933).
- The Citadel is led by Ali Ruffin. Ruffin has not only been one of the top players in the SoCon but also the country this season as she ranks fifth nationally with 496 kills.
- Historically, the Buccaneers have won 29 of the 32 all-time matches with The Citadel. However, two of the Bulldogs' three wins have occurred this season. The Citadel swept the Bucs in three sets in the match played at Johnson City before sweeping the season series with a four-set win last week when the two squads met in Charleston.
TOURNAMENT MATCHUPS
Friday, Nov. 17
Quarterfinals
Match 2: No. 4 Samford vs. No. 5 Furman, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
Match 3: No. 1 The Citadel vs. No. 8 ETSU, 2 p.m. (ESPN+)
Match 4: No. 2 Mercer vs. No. 7 Chattanooga, 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
Match 5: No. 3 Wofford vs. No. 6 Western Carolina, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, Nov. 18
Semifinals
Match 6: Match 2 winner vs. Match 3 winner, 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
Match 7: Match 4 winner vs. Match 5 winner, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, Nov. 19
Championship
Match 8: Match 6 winner vs. Match 7 winner, 4 p.m. (ESPN+)
For more information on the 2023 SoCon Volleyball Tournament, click
HERE.
For more information on Buccaneer volleyball, visit
ETSUBucs.com and click on the volleyball tab.
