Bucs fall to Tennessee Tech and Cincinnati on Friday  

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 1, 2023) – The ETSU volleyball team opened tournament play at the Golden Eagle Invitational by dropping matches to host Tennessee Tech and Big 12 foe Cincinnati on Friday inside the Eblen Center.

The Blue & Gold opened the day getting swept by Tennessee Tech (15-25, 24-26, 16-25), while dropping a four-setter to Cincinnati later in the evening (13-25, 25-23, 20-25, 18-25).

Against Tennessee Tech – the preseason favorite in the Ohio Valley Conference – the Bucs were led by Malgorzata Andersohn (Bydgoszcz, Poland) and Amanda Lowe (Blacksburg, Va.). Andersohn, who was named to the NKU Invitational All-Tournament Team last weekend, posted 13 assists and eight digs, while Lowe led ETSU with seven kills.

As a team, ETSU had 19 fewer kills than the Golden Eagles (44-25), while the Bucs committed 20 attack errors and couldn't capitalize on 10 Tennessee Tech service errors. The Golden Eagles had eight services aces to ETSU's two, while the host were plus-9 in digs (50-41) and plus-3 in blocks (7-4).

The match featured 13 ties and six lead changes with seven ties and four lead changes coming in the opening set.

The first set turned at 9-9 as Tennessee Tech used a 9-2 run to open an 18-11 lead, which they went on to claim the opener by 10, 25-15. In set number two, the Bucs led early and went ahead 15-11 on a service error by the Golden Eagles. Unfortunately, Tennessee Tech rattled off seven straight points – and despite ETSU pulling even at 19, 23, and 24 – the Blue & Gold couldn't regain the lead. Once again, the Bucs jumped out to strong start in the third as they won 10 of the first 12 points, but the Golden Eagles finished the match on a 23-6 surge to complete the sweep.

The Golden Eagles had three players register double-digit kills, including Bella Powell posting a double-double as she totaled 13 kills and 13 digs.

Tennessee Tech improved to 2-2 with the victory.

In the nightcap, ETSU took on Cincinnati but couldn't complete the rally after pulling even in the second set.

The Bucs finished with a season-high 46 kills in the match, including Lowe registering a career-high 18 to go along with three blocks. Brianna Cantrell (Appleton, Wis.) added 10 kills and Kali Walker (Wildwood, Fla.) posted seven kills and a team-best 11 digs.

To go with ETSU's 46 kills, Malgorzata dished out 26 of its 43 assists, while adding nine digs.

After falling 25-13 in the first set and trailing 18-12 late in the second, the Bucs could've just packed things in.

However, they stepped up, continued to battle and rallied back for the win, 25-23. ETSU used an 8-0 run to grab the two-point lead, and after the Bearcats pulled even four times late in the frame, the Bucs continued to respond by pulling out the 25-23 win.

From there, the teams were nip-and-tuck early in the third set before Cincinnati pulled away for the 25-20 victory. In the fourth, the Bearcats led wire-to-wire to finish things off with a 25-18 victory.

Jadyn Bauss led the Bearcats with 17 kills, seven digs, four blocks and four aces. As a team, Cincinnati, who improved to 4-1, finished with 49 kills, 10 aces, 51 digs and 10 blocks.

The Bucs dropped to 0-5 on the season and close out play in the tournament Saturday morning against Kennesaw State. First serve is set for 11:30 a.m. ET.

For more information on Buccaneer volleyball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the volleyball tab.