Volleyball Suffers First Home Loss of the Season

UNC Asheville suffered its first home loss of the 2009 season on Tuesday night, falling to East Tennessee State in five sets. Paired with Saturday’s defeat at Coastal Carolina, this is the first time the Bulldogs (18-7, 7-1) have lost back-to-back matches in over a month. ETSU (7-14, 5-7) put together a strong effort in the match, breaking a four-game losing streak and ending a long road trip on a positive note.

The Buccaneers came out on a tear, quickly building an advantage in the first set that the Bulldogs were unable to surmount. Asheville took control in the second set, cruising to a 25-18 victory. In the third set it appeared the see-saw battle would continue, as ETSU jumped out to an early lead again. This time, the Bulldogs battled back to tie the set at 23, but back-to-back kills from McKayla Barber and Desiree Dyck quelled the rally. Asheville again claimed a decisive lead early in the fourth set, but allowed an ETSU run to tie the score late in the set before shutting the door with a Rachel Guinane kill. The pattern continued into the fifth set, where ETSU seized an 8-2 advantage. Following a timeout, the Bulldogs closed the gap to 14-12, but Jen Neice found a hole in the Asheville defense for the decisive point.
ETSU only used eight players in the match, but they were exceedingly productive. Five Bucs recorded double-digit kills, and Neice finished with nine. Barber was the leading scorer with 15 kills, and also led her team with a .458 attack percentage. Four different players reached double figures in digs for ETSU, as Whitney Cogburn led the way with 16. Senior Amanda Youell gave the Bulldogs fits in all aspects of the game, tallying 10 kills, a .412 hitting average, 52 assists, and 7 digs.

Several Bulldogs turned in stellar individual performances during the match. In a milestone match, senior Raquel Miotto had 24 digs to vault from seventh to fifth on the all-time NCAA leaderboard. Kelsey Benorden posted a match-high 19 kills along with 10 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. Lauren Ficker continued to attack with precision, hitting .348 with 10 kills. Bridgett Holliday also had one of her best matches of the season, contributing 14 digs to the effort. Team defense seemed to be the greatest struggle for the Bulldogs. Asheville allowed ETSU to hit .253 as a team – well over the Bucs’ average mark (.185) and the Bulldogs’ average allowance (.170).

A team unaccustomed to losing streaks, Asheville will look to right the ship on Saturday night when they resume conference play, hosting Radford (11-14, 1-8) at the Justice Center. The match will be the annual Dig Pink event, to raise money and awareness for the fight against breast cancer. UNC Asheville players will wear pink uniforms for the match, which will be auctioned off to benefit the Sideout Foundation. The match will begin at 2pm.