Pirate Volleyball Outlasts Charlotte In Five Games
October 30, 2004 | Volleyball
Four Pirates recorded double digit kills en route to the victory. Bevan, junior outside hitter Erica Wilson and freshman outside hitter Mignon Dubenion recorded 11 kills each. Junior middle blocker Paige Howell added 10 kills for ECU.
Sophomore setter Heidi Krug finished with 46 set assists as well as a career high six total blocks and seven digs. Junior libero Johanna Bertini led the Pirate defense with 15 digs on the night.
The difference in the game was the Pirates success serving the ball. ECU collected seven service aces and only six errors while Charlotte commited 14 errors and nine aces. Red-shirt freshman Caitlin Daly recorded three aces while Dubenion and junior outside hitter Pam Ferris each added two aces.
Charlotte (18-10, 4-5 C-USA) were led by the trio of Abbey Szlanfucht, Lisa Newell and Jessica Oldenburg. Each player recorded double-digit kills in a losing effort for the 49ers. Molly McDonald collected 64 assists to pace Charlotte.
The Pirates hit .643 as a team in game one, collecting 19 kills and just one error on 28 attack attempts leading to a 30-19 game one win victory for ECU. Krug collected 17 assists in game one, setting Jaime Bevan up for five kills.
ECU went up 2-0 on Charlotte, winning 30-25 in game two despite hitting .286 to Charlotte's .424. ECU went on two runs to lead to the game two victory. With Dubenion serving early in game two, the Pirates went on a 7-1 run to take a 11-7 lead. The Pirates then went on a 6-0 run with Daly serving to take a 21-11 lead. Freshman outside hitter Kelley Wernert led the Pirates with five kills in the game.
The 49ers took game three, 30-21, with Szlanfucht and Oldenburg leading the effort with six and four kills respectively. Charlotte hit .190 with 16 kills and eight errors on 42 attack attempts.
Game four went to the 49ers by a score of 30-20 to even the match at 2-2. Szlanfucht, who finished the match with 26 kills and 25 digs, recorded nine kills and 11 digs in game four. The Pirates were out-hit .250-to-.026.
The Pirates won game five by a score of 15-11. ECU hit .267 while Charlotte hit just .174 in the final game. Howell led the way for the Pirates in the final game with three kills and two blocks.
East Carolina returns to action next weekend when the team travels to Louisville on Friday (Nov. 5) and Cincinnati on Saturday (Nov.6) for the final road trip of the regular season. Both matches are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
