East Carolina University
Southern Illinois
Volleyball Falls In Final Two Matches Of Tribe Classic
September 01, 2007 | Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2007
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The East Carolina volleyball team could not find the win column Saturday as it fell to Southern Illinois and Kent State 3-0 and 3-1 respectively at the Tribe Classic at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg. The Pirates now stand at 2-5 while the Salukis improve to 4-1 and the Golden Flashes to 7-0.
Southern Illinois jumped on top in game one as it established a 10-5 advantage. However, ECU would go on a 12-6 run to take a 17-16 lead and force a Saluki timeout. The teams fought point-for-point until, with the game tied at 28, Southern Illinois used a kill and a Pirate error to take game one 30-28. Senior Kelley Wernert recorded five kills in the frame while Sophomore Katie Prast provided four digs. Despite dropping the game, ECU out-hit the Salukis .208 to .200 and out-dug them 17-13.
The Pirates found themselves down once again to start game two as Southern Illinois raced to a 10-6 lead. A 5-2 run by ECU tightened the score to 12-11 but the Salukis utilized a 9-2 stretch of its own to regain its comfortable margin at 21-13. A Pirate timeout with the score at 24-16 proved to be ineffective as Southern Illinois closed out the frame 30-24. Sophomore Stephanie Turner contributed four kills to the offense in the game while junior Trish Monroe dug up seven balls. The Salukis out-hit ECU .354 to .225 and edged the Pirates in digs 21-20.
For the third straight game, Southern Illinois gained the upper hand on ECU, building a 12-6 advantage. A 9-3 run by the Pirates tied the score at 15 but the Salukis would reel off five of the next six points to lead 20-16. From there, Southern Illinois matched ECU point-for-point to close out the match 30-25. Wernert finished game three with five kills on eight attempts with one error to hit .500 for the frame. Monroe dug five balls in the final game.
For the match, Wernert was the only Pirate to record double-digit kills with 13 while Monroe notched 15 digs. The Salukis out-hit ECU .277 to .238 while the Pirates out-did Southern Illinois on defense 50-46.
In the match against Kent State, ECU led early, forcing a Golden Flash timeout at 15-12. Kent State would burn its second and last timeout of game one when the Pirate advantage reached 22-17. The Golden Flashes would rally to tie the game at 27 but ECU scored three of the next four points to close out the frame 30-28. Wernert and senior Mignon Dubenion combined for eight kills to lead the Pirates offensively while Monroe recorded six digs. ECU out-hit Kent State .212 to .146 while also out-digging the Golden Flashes 16-11.
With a 1-0 lead in the match, the Pirates fell behind Kent State 12-10 to start game two. After cutting the advantage to 21-20, inducing a Golden Flash timeout, ECU took a 22-21 lead but was out-scored 8-3 to close the frame as Kent State tied the match at one. Wernert again led the Pirates offensively with six kills while Monroe extended her defense, contributing seven digs. The Golden Flashes out-hit ECU .280 to .146 but the Pirates bested them on defense 20-15.
With the score tied 10-10 in game three, ECU scored the next three points to force a quick Kent State timeout. The teams matched each other until, with the Golden Flashes leading 21-20, went on 6-3 run to induce the Pirates to call a timeout of their own. A quick three points by ECU led Kent State to call another timeout and the Pirates fought off one game point before succumbing to the Golden Flashes 31-29. Dubenion exploded for seven kills in the frame while Monroe provided six digs. Both squads hit well as Kent State compiled a .395 percentage as compared to ECU's .381. The Pirates once again out-dug the Golden Flashes 18-14.
Looking to keep its victory hopes alive, ECU fell behind Kent State early in game four 9-4, causing head coach Chris Rushing to call a timeout. With the score 17-9 in favor of the Golden Flashes, a 6-3 run by the Pirates forced a timeout from Kent State. Rushing wasted no time in calling ECU's other timeout as the Golden Flashes scored the next three points to take a commanding 23-15 lead. The Pirates would not threaten again as Kent State closed out the match with a 30-20 win. Sophomore Peyton Thompson hit .600 for the frame with three kills on five attempts while sophomore Hannah Fenker led ECU on defense with seven digs. The Golden Flashes out-hit the Pirates .350 to .121 in the final game but, as it did for the entire match, ECU out-dug Kent State 17-14.
Wernert topped the Pirates offensively for the fifth match in seven this season, notching 18 kills and recording double-digit kills for the 34th time in her last 37 contests. Dubenion also turned in a nice match, slapping 15 kills on 27 attempts to hit .444. Monroe dug 22 balls for her season-high while Fenker notched her first double-double of the season with 54 assists and 15 digs in her second start of the season at setter.
ECU will stay on the road as it travels to Buies Creek on Tuesday to square off against Campbell. First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside Carter Gymnasium.
