JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 29, 2023) – The ETSU volleyball team battled but fell to Chattanooga (26-24, 12-25, 30-28, 25-20) in four sets on Friday evening at Brooks Gym.
 
Stat Standouts – A trio of Bucs scored in double figures on Friday. Brianna Cantrell (Appleton, Wis.) led the charge with 17 kills to go with 12 digs for her second double-double on the season. Amanda Lowe (Blacksburg, Va.) added 15 kills, while Abbey Thomas (Goldsboro, N.C.) did a little bit of everything with nine kills (.357 hitting percentage) on top of two aces and a trio of solo blocks. Jasmal Cruz (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) and Melanie Morris (Maryville, Tenn.) paced the Buc defense with 17 and 16 digs, respectively.
 
Set 1 – ETSU and Chattanooga began Friday's match with a back-and-forth set. The lead changed hands seven different times and both offenses were clicking as the Bucs and Mocs combined for 33 kills in the first frame alone. A late 3-0 spark capped by back-to-back kills from Cantrell erased a set point for Chattanooga and tied the score at 24-24. However, Chattanooga answered and took the opening set, 26-24. 
 
Set 2 – ETSU answered back with a stellar performance in the second. Cantrell (four kills), Lowe (three kills) and Isabelle Iosua (Honolulu, Hawaii) (three kills) along with the rest of the Bucs fueled an offense that attacked at a .478 clip in the second. Chattanooga had no answer for the hot-hitting Bucs as ETSU evened the match at a set a piece, 25-12.
 
Set 3 – While the first set of Friday's contest was competitive, the third set took that to another level. The Bucs and Mocs were tied at 15 different points and there were six different set points as well. A Chattanooga service error gave ETSU a chance to pull in front in the match, 28-27. However, the Mocs reeled off the next three points to take the lead instead, 30-28.
 
Set 4 – Early in the fourth set it looked like ETSU may bounce back as it led the Mocs by seven, 10-3. Chattanooga, however, chipped away at the Buccaneer lead to eventually tie the score at 17-17. After tying the score, the Mocs added two more points to suddenly put ETSU behind, 19-17.  The Bucs briefly cut the Moc lead to a point but Chattanooga went on to take the fourth frame, 25-20.
 
Next Up – ETSU, now 1-14 overall and 1-3 in SoCon play, will return to the court next Friday when it visits Mercer in another SoCon contest. First serve between the Bucs and Bears is set for 6 p.m.  
 
For more information on Buccaneer volleyball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the volleyball tab.