East Carolina University
Tulsa
Volleyball Falls Just Short In Conference Opener
September 21, 2007 | Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2007
TULSA, Okla. - The East Carolina volleyball team opened conference play Friday at Tulsa and despite rallying from a 2-0 deficit, dropped the match in five games. The Pirates fall to 9-7 overall and 0-1 in C-USA while the Golden Hurricane improves to 13-3 and 1-0 in conference action.
ECU kept it close early on in game one but with Tulsa leading 8-6, the Pirates dropped eight of the next 12 points to go down 16-10, forcing head coach Chris Rushing to call a timeout. ECU could not recover out of the break, eventually dropping the game 30-19.
The teams kept each other in sight throughout much of game two. However, with the score tied at 21, The Golden Hurricane rattled off four-consecutive scores to induce a Pirate timeout. Tulsa closed the game with relative ease, taking the frame 30-24 to take a 2-0 match lead into the locker room.
Coming out of the intermission, ECU had no intention of going home after three games. The Pirates forced Golden Hurricane timeouts at 13-11 and 23-19 on their way to a 30-24 win in the frame.
ECU again raced ahead in game four, causing Tulsa to use a timeout with the score in favor of the Pirates 9-6. ECU then had to burn a timeout of its own as a 4-1 run knotted the score at 10. The Pirates kept the Golden Hurricane an arm's length away the rest of the frame, eventually closing it out 30-22 to tie the match.
Neither squad could pull away in the early stages of the final game. Then, when Tulsa edged ahead 7-5, Rushing determined that he had seen enough and used a timeout. ECU would come as close as 10-8, but the Golden Hurricane denied the Pirates a thrilling comeback win with a 5-2 run that ended the match.
Senior Kelley Wernert again paced the offense as she notched 24 kills while fellow senior Mignon Dubenion and sophomore Stephanie Turner added 10 and 15 respectively. Wernert and Turner also completed double-doubles, digging up 14 and 10 balls. Junior Trish Monroe led the defense, contributing 19 digs. ECU's team total of 81 digs is the second-most ever for a conference match and fifth-most for any contest in school history. Freshman Katie Koop turned in a stellar effort, dishing out a career-best 57 assists and providing eight digs. It is her fifth match this season with 51 or more assists.
The Pirates return home to Minges Coliseum after 12-consecutive road contests as they continue conference play with a Sunday matinee' against SMU. The match is set for 1 p.m. inside Williams Arena.
