JOHNSON CITY, TENN. – Junior Bailey Hartsough posted a career-high 24 kills as Western Carolina volleyball dropped a 3-1 decision to ETSU on Saturday night at Brooks Gymnasium. ETSU won the match by the scores of 15-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-22. 

Hartsough led the Catamount offense with her eighth double-double of the season and second in as many nights coupling her career-best kills with 11 digs. The La Grange, Ind., native posted the most kills in a match this season for WCU since Sept. 2 when Ali Morris totaled 20 in a five-set victory over Green Bay.

Morris added her ninth double-double of the season, tallying 10 kills and 19 digs on the defensive end. Sarah Janourova led WCU with 41 assists, adding seven digs and three blocks to her stat line. Eden Punch posted a team-leading five blocks to go along with six kills. Logan Carr tallied seven kills and a pair of blocks. 

Amanda Lowe led the Bucs offensively with 19 kills as she hit .325 for the match. Brianna Cantrell tallied a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs while also picking up four blocks on the defensive side for ETSU. Jenna Foster also finished with 11 kills as she joined Cantrell with four blocks. Malgorzat Andersohn had a match-high 45 assists, along with 13 digs, in Saturday's action. Abbey Thomas led the Bucs with eight blocks as Melanie Morris had a team-high 18 digs on the defensive end. 

Western Carolina (6-15, 3-7 SoCon) began the match red-hot on Saturday with a 10-3 burst out of the gates highlighted by four Hartsough kills, which drew an ETSU timeout. WCU kept the pressure on the Bucs with a 6-2 spurt out of the stoppage before the hosts went on an 8-3 run to cut the deficit to six, 19-13. The Catamounts closed the set quickly, scoring six of the final eight points to claim the set 25-15. WCU posted a .471 hitting percentage in the set with 19 kills on 34 swings. 

ETSU (3-18, 3-7 SoCon) opened the second set fast with an 8-2 run out of the gates, which led to a WCU timeout. The guests cut the deficit to five, 11-6, heading towards the midportion of the set before ETSU answered with a 9-4 spurt to stretch the lead back to 10 and force a WCU timeout. The Catamounts continued to push back but could not cut into the Bucs' lead as the hosts grabbed set two 25-15 to even the match at a set apiece. 

The Bucs opened set three fast with eight of the first nine points, which forced a WCU timeout during that burst from ETSU. Western Carolina battled back with an 11-4 run to even the score at 12 halfway thru the critical third set. ETSU answered the Catamounts with a four-point burst to stretch it to a 16-12 score, leading to a WCU timeout. The two squads traded points over the next several that saw the Catamounts cut the deficit to three, 22-19 before the Bucs could hold on for a 25-21 set three win.  

ETSU opened the scoring quickly for the third straight set with a 7-2 run to gain the early lead. The Bucs and Catamounts continued to trade blows, with neither team able to gain a comfortable strangle of the set before ETSU scored four of six points in the mid portion of the set to take a 15-10 lead at the media break. WCU cut the disadvantage to three, 17-14, before a quick pair of kills forced Western Carolina to use a timeout. The Catamounts scored seven of the following 10 points to cut the deficit to one, 22-21, with ETSU scoring three of the final four points to take the set and the match. 

The Catamounts continue their three-game road swing as WCU travels to Macon, Ga., to battle Mercer on Thursday, Oct. 26, with the first serve set for 6 p.m. Two days later, WCU returns home for a 7 p.m. start against The Citadel from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. The match with the Bulldogs will be preceded by Catamount football squaring off against Mercer on Homecoming weekend with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. Both matches will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats on CatamountSports.com. 

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