ETSU continues its three-match homestand against the Spartans & Mocs

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 27, 2023) – The ETSU volleyball team will be back in Brooks Gym this week with a pair of conference matches on tap. First, the Bucs will host UNC Greensboro on Thursday at 6 p.m. before welcoming in-state rival Chattanooga to Johnson City Friday evening for another 6 p.m. contest.   

MATCH INFORMATION

Thursday, Sept. 28 / ETSU vs. UNC Greensboro / 6 p.m. / Live Stats  

Friday, Sept. 29 / ETSU vs. Chattanooga / 6 p.m. / Live Stats / ESPN+ 

ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU dropped its first two matches of its conference schedule last week. The Bucs fell in five sets on the road to Western Carolina last Thursday before Furman outlasted ETSU in five sets as well on Saturday. With those results, the Bucs are 0-13 overall and 0-2 in SoCon play.
• Two of the newest Bucs have recently/will reach some statistical milestones. Malgorzata Andersohn (Bydgoszcz, Poland) recently logged her 1,500th assist as a collegiate player. Furthermore, Jasmal Cruz (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) needs just 45 more digs to reach 1,500 for her career.
• In Saturday's match vs. Furman, the Bucs totaled a season-high 89 digs. The last time that ETSU had that many digs in a match was on October 27, 2018 when the team totaled 90.
• In the two SoCon matches for ETSU so far, the team has stepped up defensively. In league matches, the Bucs rank only behind Wofford (.102) and Furman (.142) in opponent hitting percentage checking in at .169. 

ABOUT UNC GREENSBORO

• UNC Greensboro enters the second week of conference play sporting an overall record of 1-12 on the 2023 season. The Spartans picked up their lone win of the season on September 8 vs. USC Upstate.
• UNCG fell to Samford and Mercer last weekend in its first league matches of the season.
• A player to watch for the Spartans is Aylin Baran. Baran has scored the most points on the team with 131.5.
• ETSU is 30-12 all-time against UNC Greensboro. The Bucs swept the season series from UNCG in 2022 but the Spartans did the same to ETSU in 2021. 

ABOUT CHATTANOOGA

• Chattanooga is one of four SoCon teams to reach double digit victories this fall. The Mocs, who are 11-5, have dropped their last three matches entering this week's action.
• The Mocs' defense is led by Paige Gallentine. Gallentine not only leads the SoCon in digs (287) but also ranks ninth nationally in that category. Backed by Galletine, Chattanooga ranks fifth in the nation in digs per set (17.48).
• Offensively, Chattanooga leans on Morgan Romano. Romano currently leads all levels of collegiate volleyball with 1,804 kills. In 2023, Romano ranks 14^th nationally with 222 kills.
• ETSU and Chattanooga have met a total of 76 times over the years. The Bucs have won 42 of those matchups. These two in-state rivals split the two meetings last season with Chattanooga's victory marking the lone loss for the Bucs to a SoCon opponent during the regular season.  

UP NEXT

Following their matches against UNC Greensboro and Chattanooga this week, the Bucs will travel to take on Mercer (Oct. 6 @ 6 pm) and Samford (Oct. 7 @ 6 p.m.) next weekend. 

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