SPARTANBURG, S.C. (Nov. 21, 2024) – East Tennessee State University volleyball will begin the 2024 Ingles SoCon Volleyball Championship at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22, against Furman.
Gameday Information
DATE: Friday, Nov. 22
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, Spartanburg, S.C. (Wofford)
TEAMS: No. 3 ETSU (18-10, 10-6 SoCon) vs. No. 6 Furman (13-13, 7-8 SoCon)
LIVE VIDEO:
ESPN+
LIVE STATS:
ETSUBucs.com (Sidearm)
TWITTER:
@ETSUVolleyball
TICKETS:
SoCon Tickets
GAME SPONSOR: Chicken Salad Chick
The Bucs were led in the regular season by All-SoCon second team members
Reese Rhodes and
Abbey Thomas, along with SoCon All-Freshman team member
Makayla Bays. Rhodes, the ETSU setter, has tallied 973 assists to go with 225 digs, 95 kills, 55 blocks and 39 aces.
Thomas, a senior middle blocker, finished with the best season of her career, so far tallying 129 kills, 119 blocks, 74 digs, 30 aces and eight assists, all of which are single-season highs.
Bays earned the honor after heating up in conference play to the tune of 150 kills and 130 digs after posting just 11 kills and 32 digs in nonconference action.
ETSU swept Furman in a four day span in the regular season after the initial contest between the Bucs and Paladins was rescheduled due to Hurricane Helene. Bays led the Bucs in both contests with a combined 28 kills, and senior outside hitter
Amanda Lowe had 17. Thomas had 12 blocks across the contests, and sophomore libero
Melanie Morris totaled 39 digs.
The Paladins were led by Ava Auguston, who had 16 kills and three aces between the two matches. Ashley Stein added a nine kill, two ace, two block outing for Furman in the first matchup.
The Bucs enter the conference tournament with the goal of bucking a trend that has stuck with the program since just after Devine's previous departure. The last time ETSU won a quarterfinal conference tournament game was in 2019, when the Blue & Gold made a run to the title game before falling to Samford in five sets, although the Bucs did win the 8-9 play-in game last season over UNCG.
The Bulldogs knocked off the Buccaneers back-to-back years for the title following ETSU's most recent conference tournament championship in 2017. ETSU enters the weekend having rattled off three consecutive wins and have won eight of their last ten.
The Bucs will rely on the most wins at a neutral site (6-2) by a SoCon team in nonconference tournaments in Spartanburg as they attempt to defy another historical trend. The Bucs are 5-5 in SoCon Championship matches played in the state of South Carolina, including a 3-0 run to win the 1992 SoCon Championship. However, three of those five losses came against Furman in the quarterfinals. (Greenville 2022, Charleston 2000, Greenville 1986)
The Blue & Gold are 3-2 when the tournament is played in Spartanburg (2023 & 2019). This will mark the first matchup between the Bucs and Paladins in Spartanburg based on available records.
For more information on Buccaneer volleyball, follow @ETSUVolleyball on X (Twitter) and Instagram, and visit ETSUBucs.com.
