CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Sept. 20, 2024) – East Tennessee State University volleyball earned a pair of victories over North Carolina Central and Charlotte on Friday.

Senior middle blocker Abbey Thomas set a career high with 13 kills against the Eagles, besting her previous mark of 11 from 2021. Junior outside hitter Brianna Cantrell also notched a career high of 23 digs and graduate setter Reese Rhodes posted a season-high 53 assists. The 53 assists is the most Rhodes has totaled since her career-high 60 vs. Oklahoma in 2022 and is the third highest mark of her career.

ETSU got off to a strong start in the first set. Senior outside hitter Amanda Lowe had three kills and Thomas notched a pair of aces as the Bucs won the set 25-20. The Eagles showed fight in the second set. Kamren Harper posted four kills in the set, along with six team NC Central aces helped the Eagles to a 25-22 set win.

The Blue and Gold rebounded in a tight third set to take a 2-1 lead in the match. ETSU used four kills from Thomas throughout the set and a 6-0 run from Rhodes at the service line to build a lead that it would hold despite a comeback attempt from NC Central. Lowe had kills to end a pair of late Eagles runs and the Bucs won the set 25-22. NC Central sent the match to five sets in the fourth. The Eagles had their best set of the night, forcing 14 errors from the Bucs. Lowe and Thomas had three kills each for ETSU, but the Bucs fell in the set 25-18.

The Bucs bounced back to win the match in the final set for their first five-set win of the year. ETSU took an 8-7 lead into the media timeout and Lowe had a pair of kills out of the break to seal the lead for the Blue & Gold. Graduate right side Jenna Forster ended the match with a kill to win the set and match 15-12.

Sophomore libero Melanie Morris continued the parade of career highs with 21 digs against Charlotte. Lowe tied her season high twice on the day with 15 kills in each match and Forster set a new season high with 13 kills.

The Bucs and 49ers played a tight match throughout the first three sets, each of which was decided by two points. Lowe had six kills in the opening set, including two to stave off a pair of Charlotte set points. However, 11 attack errors compared to Charlotte's four brought down the Bucs in Set 1, and Charlotte opened with a 26-24 set victory.

ETSU flipped the script in the second set. The Bucs opened up a lead of six points at 18-12 behind three early kills from junior middle blocker Whitley Rammel and four errors from Charlotte, but the 49ers would not go down without a fight, pulling back within a point before Rammel extinguished the rally with a kill and gave the Bucs the 25-23 set victory.

Charlotte had the longest run of the match in the third set, using an 8-0 sprint to take a 15-10 lead. However, a kill from Thomas broke the run, and the senior followed it with a timely pair of aces to tie the match at 15. The 49ers retook the lead at 20-17, but a pair of kills from Rammel, along with a block and kill from Rhodes and Lowe, tied the match at 22. Thomas' kill on the next point gave the Bucs their first set lead since 10-9 and fittingly, her serve a few points later led to a kill from Forster to give ETSU a 26-24 set victory.

The Bucs broke open the match in the final set. ETSU had leads of 7-3 and 19-9 before Thomas served the rest of the way to the set victory. Junior opposite Isabelle Iosua combined with Rammel on a block to seal the second victory of the day for the Bucs.

ETSU concludes the Queen City Invite at 1 p.m. on Sept. 21 against Queens. For more information on Buccaneer volleyball, follow @ETSUVolleyball on X (Twitter) and Instagram, and visit ETSUBucs.com.