ETSU volleyball handled business in Greenville, S.C. on Friday, starting the second half of Southern Conference play with a competitive 3-0 sweep of the Furman Paladins inside Alley Gym.
The Bucs won all three sets in tight fashion (25-21, 25-22, 25-22) en route to a 14-7 overall record and a league-leading 8-1 conference mark. Furman dropped to 5-15 and 1-9, respectively.
With tonight’s result, ETSU has now won the last 11 sets against Furman dating back to last season.
Sophomore Caroline Dykes (Flower Mound, Texas) achieved her seventh double-double of the season and her third in a row with 21 assists and 10 digs by the second set. She went on to finish with 29 assists and 12 digs. In all 21 matches this season, Dykes has tallied at least 20 assists.
Two more sophomores added to the threat, including Amanda Lowe (Blacksburg, Va.) with a match-high 11 kills. Defensively, sophomore libero Haley Sanders (Brentwood, Tenn.) dug up 17 Paladins attacks to lead the match.
Senior Lundyn Coffman (Nolensville, Tenn.) was a force at the net front with five blocks and seven kills. Freshman trio Kimani Johnson (Southfield, Mich.), Brianna Cantrell (Appleton, Wis.) and Whitley Rammel (Ft. Recovery, Ohio) combined for 18 of the team’s 40 kills, as ETSU owned a 40-33 advantage in kills.
ETSU was the early aggressor, forcing the home team to call its first timeout with an 11-4 deficit. Furman regroup out of the break and started to find its rhythm, overcoming an early negative attacking percentage to break even and force an ETSU timeout at 14-10. Nonetheless, the Bucs remained ahead the whole way and won the opening frame.
The second stanza was a see-saw battle with six lead swaps. Both teams hit above .333 by the first timeout with ETSU ahead 15-13. Back and forth the two sides went, but it would be the Bucs that jumped to a 2-0 match lead. ETSU won the percentage battle .220 to .158.
The sweep was fulfilled in the third set. ETSU dropped the first point, but won the next four and never lost the lead again — despite eight tied score situations.
The Bucs close their South Carolina trip against Wofford tomorrow at 6 p.m. in Spartanburg.
For more information on Buccaneer volleyball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the volleyball page.
Original source can be found here
Alerts Sign-up