CHARLESTON, S.C. (Nov. 8, 2024) – East Tennessee State University volleyball fell to The Citadel 3-1 (23-25, 14-25, 25-21, 15-25) on Friday in Charleston.

Senior outside hitter Amanda Lowe led the Bucs with 14 kills. Graduate right side Jenna Forster added 11 kills on .308 hitting in her return to the starting lineup.

The Bucs (15-10, 7-6 SoCon) flew out of the gates in the opening set with a 4-0 run behind a pair of kills from senior middle blocker Abbey Thomas and an ace from graduate setter Reese Rhodes. The Citadel slowly worked its way back into the set, taking a lead at 9-8 as the two teams played even from there to a 15-14 Bulldogs lead at the media timeout. The Citadel maintained its lead out of the stoppage to 21-20 before notching a pair of aces, each of which forced ETSU timeouts. Graduate right side Jenna Forster then staved off a pair of set points with kills before the Bulldogs won the set.

The Citadel started the second set in the same fashion the Bucs started the first. ETSU inched back, drawing as close as 10-12 after a pair of aces from junior outside hitter Brianna Cantrell, but the Bulldogs then went on a 13-4 run to win the set.

The Bucs responded in the third set. ETSU extended an early lead 9-4 lead behind three Cantrell kills, but The Citadel battled back to tie the set at 20. A Bulldogs service error gave sophomore libero Melanie Morris the ball at the service line, and she set up back-to-back kills for Lowe. Thomas and Rhodes then combined for a block, and Lowe added another kill to give the Bucs the 25-21 set win.

The Bulldogs took an early lead in the fourth set. They had an 11-6 advantage and then extended it behind seven service aces in the set, which ETSU was unable to overcome. The Citadel took the set and match 25-15.

Next, the Bucs travel to Wofford at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9. The match will be available on ESPN+ and live stats can be found here. 

For more information on Buccaneer volleyball, follow @ETSUVolleyball on X (Twitter) and Instagram, and visit ETSUBucs.com.