East Carolina University
UCF
Volleyball Blitzes UCF 3-0 At New UCF Arena
September 29, 2007 | Volleyball
Sept. 29, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. - The East Carolina volleyball team dominated throughout in a 3-0 conference win Friday night over UCF in the first-ever athletic contest played at the New UCF Arena. The Pirates improve to 11-7 overall and 2-1 in conference play while the Knights dip to 8-9 on the season and 0-3 in C-USA action. Head coach Chris Rushing tallied his 50th victory at ECU since taking over the program in 2005.
The Pirates benefited from 11 errors by UCF in taking game one. ECU would take leads of 12-7, 19-10 and 25-15, cruising to a 30-18 win. The Pirates out-hit the Knights .209 to -.128 and recorded 16 kills as compared to UCF's six.
Things only got easier for ECU in game two as the Pirates scored the first seven points of the frame, forcing a Knight timeout. A 10-5 run augmented ECU's lead as UCF called another timeout, trailing 17-5. The Knights would get no closer than 12 the rest of the way as the Pirates closed out the game 30-13. ECU enjoyed its best hitting frame, compiling a .300 percentage while holding UCF to -.152. The Knights also made 13 errors in the game.
The Pirates, determined to send the UCF-record crowd of 401 home disappointed, raced out to a 9-2 advantage in game three. UCF would cut the deficit to 11-8, but a 10-3 stretch by ECU forced Knight head coach Meg Colado to burn a timeout. The Pirates had no trouble closing out the match, out-scoring UCF 10-7 the rest of the way. Errors again plagued the Knights, as they tallied 11 in the frame.
UCF's 23 kills in the match mark the second-fewest allowed by ECU this season. Additionally, the Knights' -.108 hitting percentage is the lowest by a Pirate opponent on the year as the ECU held the Knights under 20 points in each frame. Senior Kelley Wernert notched double-digit kills for the 16th-consecutive match as she put down 14. Sophomore Hannah Fenker led the defense, digging up 10 balls, while freshman Katie Koop dished out 21 assists.
The Pirates will look to improve their conference standing as they travel to Hattiesburg for a Sunday matinee with Southern Miss. First serve from Reed Green Coliseum is set for 2 p.m.
