Tournament: Buccaneer Classic
Score: ETSU 3, VCU 1 (22-25, 25-18, 28-26, 28-26)
Location: Johnson City, Tenn. (Brooks Gymnasium)
Record: VCU 1-4, ETSU 3-4
 
The short story: Sophomore Lara Del Core blasted a career-high 20 kills, but VCU dropped a tightly contested match at ESTU Friday.
 
OPENING VOLLEY

• Del Core hit .271 on 48 attempts on the way to her first career 20-kill performance. Her previous high for a single match was 18. She also logged eight digs and two blocks. She rang up six kills in the fourth set alone, as well as five in both the second and third frames
• Graduate setter Elif Ozsoy added 36 assists, 11 digs and three blocks in her first action as a Ram. Osoy transferred to VCU in the offseason following three standout years at North Alabama
• Seniors Julia Rienks and Kalina Pylinska supplied 11 and nine kills, respectively, to the VCU cause
• Whitley Rammel powered the Buccaneers with 13 kills and five blocks 

THE DIFFERENCE

• VCU struggled to crack the ETSU defense. The Rams hit .147 in the match and did not surpass .200 in any of Friday's four sets
• The Rams were also hurt by 14 service errors. The Buccaneers recorded 10 aces to VCU's six
• The match ultimately swung on critical stretches in the third and fourth sets. ETSU claimed a back-and-forth third after a VCU hitting error and an ace by Sophia Davis provided a 28-26 win. The fourth saw the Buccaneers rally from a 21-19 deficit to capture the set the match. The Rams moved within set point at 26-25 on a kill by Pylinska, but ETSU rattled off three straight points – kills by Makayla Bays and Davis, as well as a double block by Rammel and Brianna Cantrell – to secure the 28-26 victory 

NOTABLE
VCU recorded a season-high 14 blocks, including eight from junior Nina Boledovicova
 
NEXT UP
VCU will conclude play at the Buccaneer Classic when it meets Western Kentucky on Saturday, Sept. 13 at noon at Brooks Gymnasium.