East Carolina University
Southern Miss
Pirates Falter At Southern Miss
September 30, 2007 | Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Despite holding a 2-1 advantage, the East Carolina volleyball team could not hold on, falling to Southern Miss 3-2 Sunday afternoon inside Reed Green Coliseum. The Pirates fall to 11-8 on the year and 2-2 in conference play while the Golden Eagles improve to 10-10 overall and 1-3 in C-USA. Freshman Katie Koop notched a career-best 62 assists in the match.
Southern Miss edged ahead 17-14 in game one but a 6-3 run by ECU knotted the score at 20. With the Golden Eagles leading 26-24, the Pirates blanked them the rest of the way, scoring the last six points to take the frame 30-26.
The home squad again raced out in front in game two, assuming a 7-3 advantage. However, ECU went on a 5-1 run to tie the score at eight. Southern Miss would hold the Pirates at arm's length the rest of the way, taking the frame 30-27 to tie the match going into the locker room.
ECU came out on fire in game three. With the score tied at seven, the Pirates would not look back, taking leads of 16-10 and 24-14 on their way to a 30-20 win and a 2-1 match lead.
On the verge of falling to 0-4 to start conference play, the Golden Eagles never let ECU in game four, assuming advantages of 13-6 and 23-12 in capturing the frame 30-18.
Southern Miss blitzed the Pirates in the deciding game, sprinting out to an 8-1 lead. ECU would cut the deficit to 9-5 but the teams traded points from there, allowing the Golden Eagles to close out the match with a 15-9 win.
Senior Kelley Wernert led the offense, notching 24 kills and completing a double-double with 15 digs. Sophomore Stephanie Turner also turned in a double-double, putting down 13 kills while adding a career-high 24 digs. Additionally, Koop enjoyed her fifth double-double of the year, putting 11 digs with her 62 assists. The Pirates lost their second five-game match of three so far in conference action.
ECU will return to Greenville next weekend, hosting West division foes UTEP and Tulane. Friday night's battle with the Miners is set for 7 p.m. inside Minges Coliseum.
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