JOHNSON CITY, TENN. - Appalachian State University volleyball battled former Southern Conference foe East Tennessee State to five sets and was able to defeat the Buccaneers 3-2 Tuesday evening in Johnson City, Tenn. The five-set contest between the two teams marks the third-straight meeting between the two squads that has been played to five sets.

With the win, the Black and Gold pick up their first win at ETSU since 2004 and Appalachian improves to a stout 4-0 on the season while ETSU drops to 1-3 overall. The 4-0 start is the squad's best start to a season since 2002.

After falling behind 2-1, with the match on the line, ASU came out strong in the fourth set, jumping out to an 8-4 lead. The Apps were able to grab the advantage by posting stellar defensive efforts at the net, as both Caroline Sedon and Maggie Seeds and Sedon and Kelly Rhein combined for block assists.

The Bucs pulled within one point at the 9-8 mark, but the Black and Gold outscored ETSU 12-4 to stay on top, and earn a commanding 21-12 lead.

Junior Alison Blasingame was quite impressive both offensively and defensively, tallying both a block assist and slamming home a kill. The Virginia Tech transfer closed out the evening with seven kills and seven block assists.

Final kills by Seeds and Meghann Forshey kept ASU alive, and gave the Apps the 25-17 fourth set win, pushing the match to five sets.

Eerily similar to fifth-set play against High Point on Saturday evening, the Apps carried their momentum into the final set and came out firing, totally dominating ETSU.

Appalachian grabbed a 5-1 advantage with the Bucs tallying three early errors.

ETSU tried to comeback pulling within two points, making it 6-4, but consistent offensive productivity by Seeds and Forshey kept the Mountaineers' lead alive.

Forshey yet again paced ASU's offense, finishing the match with a team-best 10 kills, hitting .304 in the contest.

With the Black and Gold notching the 12-6 lead, ETSU self-destructed, recording four-straight errors (three attack errors/one bad set) to propel Appalachian to the 15-7 fifth set and 3-2 match victory.

Struggling to find its footing, ASU faced a 19-10 deficit in the first set.

Three kills by Seeds cut into ETSU's nine-point cushion, making it a four-point set at 20-16, and a Blasingame kill made it as close as 20-19.

Despite the solid effort, East Tennessee State was able to hang on for the 25-21 first set win.

Second set action was a highly competitive back and forth affair, as it was tied ten different times.

Once the set was tied at 17 apiece, Seeds tallied another crucial kill, giving Appalachian the lead for good at 18-17.

The Apps tried to run away with the it, pushing the score to 21-18 in their favor, but ETSU's Desiree Dyck tallied a kill, and that combined with a Black and Gold error made it a one point set.

Continuing with its resiliency, Appalachian did not let up and eked out the 25-22 win, to tie match action at one all.

After the Bucs came out on fire at the beginning of the third set, ASU could never quite bounce back.

Appalachian was down by as many as seven points, and could never muster a comeback, falling 25-20.

Picking up its play and displaying strong performances, ASU captured fourth and fifth set wins, to improve to an undefeated 4-0 on the young 2010 season.

Making its 2010 home-debut, Appalachian welcomes three opponents to the High Country for Labor Day weekend, as the Apps host the Appalachian Invitational. Action kicks off Friday, September 3 with USC Upstate playing Valparaiso at 4:30 p.m. and ASU battling Eastern Kentucky at 7 p.m. in the Holmes Center.