ETSU 3, Mercer 0
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The East Tennessee State University volleyball team kept up its dominance at home with a 3-0 victory (25-14, 25-18, 25-22) over Mercer Saturday evening at Brooks Gym. With the victory, the Bucs improve to 31-3 at home since 2012 and 12-5 overall this season as well as 3-1 in league action.
Rylee Milhorn posted 17 kills to go along with 12 digs and Briana Allmon chipped in 13 kills to lead ETSU’s offense. In total, the Buccaneers hit .294 with 48 kills (16 kills per set).
Mercer struggled mightily offensively in the first frame hitting a match-worst .042. ETSU’s defense played a major part in the Bears’ struggles as it dug up 14 attacks and added three blocks. Hailey Aguilar notched seven digs in the first to pace the Bucs’ defensive efforts.
The Bucs notched four runs of three points or more en route to a 25-18 set victory. Milhorn built upon a seven kill performance in a first set with six more kills in the second to power the Bucs to a 2-0 lead.
Mercer put together its best set in the third as it hit .314 to ETSU’s .297. The Bucs lead by many as seven points (16-9) but the Bears clawed back to within two points as late as 24-22 but a kill by AJ Lux sealed the victory for ETSU, 25-22.
The Bucs will be back in action Oct. 9 when they travel to Alabama to take on Samford in another SoCon clash. The match against the Bulldogs is scheduled for 8 p.m.
UNCG 3, Western Carolina 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG volleyball put its six-match losing skid to bed Saturday night, returning home after seven matches on the road to sweep Western Carolina (25-18, 25-12, 25-19) inside Fleming Gymnasium. The Spartans won their first league match of the season and sit at 11-8 overall and 1-3 in Southern Conference play, while the Catamounts fall to 7-13 and 1-3.
The Blue and Gold improved to 4-0 at home in 2015 and have only dropped one set inside the friendly confines.
The UNCG offense was absolutely dominant tonight recording 49 kills on 119 swings with only 13 errors for a .303 hitting percentage. Conversely, the Spartans limited Western Carolina to .017 efficiency on just 20 kills. The Blue and Gold also held the upper hand in digs (68-52) while the teams ended up even in blocking with four each. The Catamounts hit below .100 in all three sets including a -.075 showing in the opening stanza.
Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Muench led the UNCG offense with 13 kills while freshman middle hitter Jasmine Jones and junior outside hitter Jessica Brezwyn chipped in with 11 and 10 respectively. Jones made just one error in 17 attempts for a .588 hitting percentage. Muench tallied her first double-double of the season adding 14 digs to her kill output. Additionally, freshman setter Allison Penner collected her fourth double-double of the campaign to the tune of 37 assists and 13 digs. Senior defensive specialist Katherine Santiago led all players with 18 digs.
A pair of consecutive aces by Muench saw the Spartans take control of the third set 6-2 but Western Carolina was able to pull within 10-8 later on in the proceedings. Muench continued to put her mark on the match and put down two kills as part of a 3-0 run that pushed UNCG ahead 13-8. Try as they might, the Catamounts could not catch the Blue and Gold the rest of the way as the Spartans ended up clinching the third set by six and completing the sweep.
UNCG will take the week to prepare for its next match scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10 against Furman at home. The Spartans and Paladins will serve it up at 7 p.m. inside Fleming Gymnasium.