CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel volleyball squad will host its final two home matches of the regular season this weekend, taking on ETSU Friday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. and Western Carolina Saturday, Nov. 9 at 4 p.m.
 
#BATTLEREADY (ABOUT THE CITADEL)
The Bulldogs are 10-15 overall and 4-8 in the conference going into the weekend after picking up two home wins last week against Furman and UNCG.
 
The Citadel topped the Paladins and Spartans after falling to both teams on the road earlier in the season.
 
Junior Sharlissa De Jesus reached a career milestone, logging her 1,000^th career-kill against Furman early in the third set. Emma Strong and freshman Gina Delancey both recorded season-highs last week, Strong putting up 16 digs and Delancey posting seven total blocks against the Paladins.
 
COACHES CORNER
"It's great to get wins in your own gym," said head coach Dave Zelenock about last week's two victories. "We were challenged throughout those last two matches, but did a great job from 20 points on and I think that's a sign of our growing maturity."

THE CITADEL VS OPPONENTS (THE HISTORY)
The Bulldogs  go into Friday's match against ETSU still seeking to get their first victory against the Bucs in program history. The Citadel is currently 0-23 all-time against ETSU.
 
On Saturday, the 'Dogs will look to get revenge against Western Carolina after dropping an early season bout, 0-3. The Citadel is 8-31 against the Catamounts, with its last win occurring in 2018 at the SoCon tournament. That win was the Bulldogs first-ever conference tournament victory.

SCOUTING THE BUCS
The ETSU Buccaneers are currently 20-4 on the season with a 11-1 conference record, ranking them first in the Southern Conference. Their lone conference loss came at the hands of Furman on their home court.
 
The Bucs lead the conference in four different statistical categories including hitting percentage, assists per set, kills per set, and blocks per set.
 
The ETSU offense is led by Kaela Massey, boasting a .337 hitting percentage, and Olivia Cunningham who averages 3.55 kills per set. On the defensive side, libero Marija Popovic leads the way for the Bucs, averaging 4.26 digs per set, which is good for third highest average in the SoCon.
 
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
The Catamounts of Western Carolina are 16-9 overall with a 10-2 conference record. Their SoCon record ranks them third against the competition, behind ETSU and Samford which have been their only losses in conference action.
 
As a team, Western Carolina ranks third in the SoCon in categories including hitting percentage (.208), assists per set (11.96), and kills per set (12.93). The Catamount defense leads the conference in digs, averaging 18.14 per set.
 
Abigail Veit and Merry Gebel lead Western Carolina's offense, averaging 3.47 and 3.39 kills per set, respectively. They are aided by setter Hannah Price, who has put up 846 total assists this season, averaging 10.19 per set.

COMING UP
The Bulldogs will travel to Wofford and Chattanooga next week for their final two regular season matches before the SoCon Tournament later this month.
  
JOIN THE CITADEL BRIGADIER FOUNDATION
Membership in The Citadel Brigadier Foundation is open to alumni and friends of The Citadel who are interested in supporting Bulldog athletics. By joining, you provide annual charitable contributions that fund scholarships for cadet-student-athletes. Supporters interested in joining TCBF or for more information, please click HERE.
 
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information and score updaes on The Citadel volleyball team, please visit CitadelSports.com or follow @CitadelVB on Twitter and @CitadelVolleyball on Instagram.