East Carolina University
Marshall
League Leader Marshall Outlasts Volleyball 3-1
October 19, 2007 | Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2007
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - As in its last match against UAB, the East Carolina volleyball team rallied to take game three after facing a 2-0 deficit but lost its conference match with Marshall in four games Friday evening inside the Cam Henderson Center. The Pirates dropped their fourth-straight contest to fall to 12-12 on the season and 3-6 in conference play. The league-leading Thundering Herd improved to 15-8 overall and 8-1 in C-USA. Freshman Katie Koop earned her seventh double-double of the season, handing out 51 assists while adding 12 digs.
Game one saw Marshall take a 12-5 lead which grew to 21-13, forcing East Carolina to take a timeout. The Pirates would cut the deficit to 23-17 but the Herd traded points with ECU the rest of the way to record a 30-26 frame victory.
Marshall again raced out to a big lead as they assumed a 14-5 advantage in game two. The Pirates fought back to get within 23-21, inducing a Herd timeout. East Carolina would call a timeout of its own as Marshall scored the next two points to take a 25-21 lead. Trailing 27-23, the Pirates went on a 4-2 run to pull within 29-27 but a Kelly-Anne Billingy kill closed the frame for the Herd.
In the third frame, it was ECU who took the lead 17-13. The Pirates held Marshall at arms length until the Herd clawed back to tie the game at 27. However, East Carolina extended the match as it scored the last three of four points to win the frame 30-28
Marshall never allowed the Pirates into game four, assuming leads of 14-8, 20-13 and 24-16 on its way to a 30-22 win to close out the contest.
Senior Kelley Wernert, as she has all season, led the offense, notching 13 kills. Sophomores Stephanie Turner and Melissa Zentner also turned in double-digit efforts as they put down 10 each. Junior Trish Monroe paced the defense, tallying 14 digs. She is now just eight digs away from taking over second place on the program career chart.
The Herd bested ECU in hitting (.286-.183), kills (72-59) and digs (69-58) while the Pirates registered two more blocks (8-6).
The teams will complete their weekend series on Sunday in Greenville. East Carolina looks for its first-ever win over Marshall in a 1 p.m. tilt inside Minges Coliseum.
