JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 11, 2024) – East Tennessee State University volleyball is set to take on its lone pair of Power 4 opponents in the regular season at the Liberty Tournament.
The Bucs open the late-week tournament at 6 p.m. on Sept. 12 vs. Virginia, before facing host Liberty (1 p.m.) and West Virginia (4 p.m.) in a doubleheader on Sept. 13.
ETSU will play its first matches outside the state of North Carolina with a 4-2 record after a 2-1 outing at the Mountaineer Classic last weekend. The Blue & Gold fell in the opening match to host App State 3-2 but rebounded with sweeps of Gardner-Webb and Kennesaw State.
The Bucs are led offensively by senior outside hitter
Amanda Lowe, who has totaled 70 kills (3.33/set), junior outside hitter
Brianna Cantrell (58 kills) and graduate setter
Reese Rhodes, who has posted 181 assists (8.62/set). Sophomore setter
Enisilina Savelio has added 11 aces. Defensively, the middle blocking duo of senior
Abbey Thomas and junior
Whitley Rammel have 25 and 19 blocks, respectively, while sophomore libero
Melanie Morris and Rhodes have 65 and 54 digs on the season.
The last Power 4 win belonging to the Blue & Gold came in 2022, when the Bucs took down Clemson 3-2. ETSU is 9-37 all-time against nine ACC opponents and is 2-14 all-time against six Big 12 opponents. The Bucs are 0-5 vs. West Virginia, but earned a 3-0 win over Virginia (1-3 all-time) in 2017 – head coach Lindsey Devine's last year with the program before returning prior to the 2024 season. ETSU has fared better against the Flames, with a 6-3 record against the program. The Bucs haven't played Liberty since 2016, when ETSU won 3-0.
The Cavaliers have a different leader in each statistical category. Elayna Dupree has 70 kills, Abby Tadder has 25 blocks, Kate Johnson has nine aces, Milan Gomillion has 87 digs and Ashley Le has 118 assists. UVA enters the tournament 5-1 after splitting two matches with Coastal Carolina and notching wins over Hofstra, Marist, William & Mary and Old Dominion.
Live Stats vs. Virginia
Liberty heads into their home tournament at 3-2. The Flames fell to Iowa in Puerto Rico and were swept by Cornell, but have wins over Navy, Akron and UC San Diego. Like Virginia, no player repeats as a leader in a statistical category. Their leaders include Kate Gammer (56 kills), Charli Crowson (91 assists), Amelia Tomlinson (eight aces), Madison Blaine (26 blocks) and Erica Lowery (67 digs).
Live Stats vs. Liberty
The Mountaineers begin the third weekend of play 3-3. WVU defeated Navy, Hofstra and North Dakota, but has dropped matches to Wake Forest, Northern Iowa and North Dakota. Cassidy Tanton has 86 kills and 12 aces and Alexis Finvold has 224 assists. Defensively, Sydney Reed has contributed 85 digs, and Maddy McGath has 24 blocks.
Live Stats vs. West Virginia
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