Volleyballers Edge UNCW In Five Game Thriller
October 22, 2002 | Volleyball
The Pirates dominated play in games one and two, jumping ahead to early leads and eventually taking the wins. In game one, the Pirates had 14 kills and a .111 hitting percentage. The game was evenly played with the scored staying tied for the beginning of the game. East Carolina then took a four-point lead, which it held on to until the end, winning 30-26. Game two saw much of the same with leads switching back and forth, and ties throughout. East Carolina soon went up by four points, and then increased the lead to six. The Pirates won by six points, 30-24, having 19 kills and a .400 hitting percentage in the outing.
East Carolina took an early five point lead in game three and went up by as much as eight at one point. With a 21-15 lead, Adrienne Moore came in to serve for the Seahawks, and UNCW added four points to the board, closing in on the ECU advantage. UNC Wilmington took the lead with Jennifer Mais serving on a kill by Lindsay Moffitt. Once the Seahawks gained the lead, they would not relinquish it, and went away with the 30-26 win. East Carolina had 13 kills in the game, and hit .263.
Game four saw the Pirates jump out to a 6-0 lead under the service of Jessica Vick. The Seahawks earned their first point of the game on a kill by Paige Marvin, and gained five more points thereafter with Jodi Bartman serving. Wilmington took control of the game on a kill by Moffitt, which made the score 8-7. The Seahawks would go up 16-10 at one point, but the Pirates would climb back and close in on the lead, bringing it to within one point on two separate occasions. UNCW pulled away after a service ace by Tonya Beaumont, and eventually took the win 30-25.
In the final game of the match, East Carolina again went ahead early in the game, this time 3-0. The game switched leads only once on a kill by Marvin, but East Carolina rallied back and took the win 15-10.
For the Pirates, Alexis Jones led the team with 16 kills on the night. Shannon Paton had 15 kills, Sarah Vick had 13, Robyn Drewes had 12, and Pam Ferris had 10. Sarah Vick led the team with six service aces on the night. Ferris and Jessica Vick each had four. Johanna Bertini had 11 defensive digs and Jessica Vick led the team with 34 assists. Erica Wilson added 21 assists. As a team, the Pirates hit .260. Jones had an outstanding .560 hitting percentage on the night. The Pirates had 18 total block assists on the night.
East Carolina will hit the road again this weekend. The Pirates will face Elon on Friday night, October 25 at 7:00 p.m. and will match-up against C-USA rival Charlotte on Saturday, October 26 at 7:00 p.m.
