East Carolina’s Rally Falls Short At UConn

Friday, November 11

Storrs, Conn.

2:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

14-11, 4-11American

UConn

16-10, 7-8American

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
East Carolina	18	19	25	24	1
UConn	25	25	21	26	3

November 11, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

STORRS, Conn. – After falling behind two sets to none at intermission, East Carolina put together a spirited rally but fell just short as UConn captured a 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 21-25, 26-24) American Athletic Conference victory Friday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion.

Team Records: East Carolina: (14-11, 4-11 AAC) | UConn: (16-10, 7-8 AAC)

Torbett's Take: "We need to be assertive at the beginning of matches and not wait for something to wake us up. If we can start eliminating our mental mistakes, we can find success in these last five. Ashley McRae continues to have a phenomenal close to her career at East Carolina."

The Rundown: McRae continued her recent strong play, tallying a match-high 13 kills on 27 attempts with only three errors for a .370 hitting percentage. She also recorded seven blocks (six solo). Senior outside I'Tiana Taylor also reached double figures in the kill column with 10 while notching 12 digs for her third double-double of the campaign. Defensively, senior outside Sydney Darden and freshman libero Brandee Markwith collected 13 digs apiece and junior middle Natalie Montini put up four solo blocks.

Kayla Williams paced the Huskies with 12 kills while Rebecca Rivera ended up with a double-double of 28 assists and 13 digs.

ECU forced UConn into 29 attacking errors that resulted in a .154 hitting percentage. The Pirates hit .211 as a team with 49 kills in 142 attempts with 19 attacking errors. In terms of blocking, East Carolina piled up a season-high 17 total stuffs while limiting the Huskies to five. UConn also held a slim 53-52 advantage in the dig column.

Set One: After the teams traded the lead back and forth in the early portion of the stanza, East Carolina was able to take a 10-9 edge after a UConn service error. The Huskies then scored five straight to assume a 14-10 lead and force the Pirates to use a timeout. ECU kept it close late, trailing 19-17 after a Lael Ceriani kill, but UConn ended the frame on a 6-1 run to win it by seven.

Set Two: The Huskies raced out to a 7-3 lead before the Pirates fought back to within two at 11-9 following a Taylor kill. With the score in favor of UConn at 17-15, the Huskies netted the next four points to build a six-point cushion and Camille Evans ended it with a kill to send UConn to the intermission with a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set Three: The Huskies rolled up a 9-3 lead to start the third before East Carolina ripped off six straight to tie the score. UConn looked to pull ahead after a Pirate service error, but ECU responded once again with a 5-0 run to propel itself into the lead. The Huskies would knot the score with a kill, but Taylor put down a kill of her own to spark a 3-0 spurt that put the Pirates in the lead at 22-19. A kill by Ceriani finished the job a few rallies later as East Carolina was able to extend the match to four.

Set Four: With UConn enjoying a slim 8-7 edge, the Huskies stretched the lead to 12-7 to force an ECU timeout. The Pirates had to burn their final timeout later trailing 22-18, but scored five of the next six points to pull even at 23 thanks to a pair of consecutive solo blocks. An unfortunate service error gave the lead back to the Huskies and they were able to seal the set and match by two, 26-24, in volleyball's version of overtime.

Bits and Pieces: East Carolina fell to 7-5 in true road matches … If ECU can win two of its final five matches, it will have its first winning season since 2006 … The Pirates and Huskies split the season series for the third-straight season thanks to East Carolina's earlier 3-2 victory in Greenville … McRae is now alone in seventh on the program career

Up Next: East Carolina ties up its road swing Sunday with a match at Temple.