East Carolina University
UCF
Volleyball Wins Home Finale
November 09, 2008 | Volleyball
Nov. 9, 2008
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Playing the final home match of the 2008 season, the East Carolina volleyball team played one of its most complete matches of the season in defeating UCF 3-1 (25-17, 31-29, 14-25, 25-17) inside Minges Coliseum. With the victory, the Pirates are now 13-17, with a 3-12 record in Conference USA action. The Knights fall to 14-15, including 6-9 in conference matches with the defeat. The triumph also allowed ECU to avenge a 3-2 defeat in Orlando, Fla., from earlier this season.
The Pirates trailed early in the first set 5-1 before climbing back to tie the score 6-6. After deadlocks at seven, eight and nine points, ECU won seven straight to take a 16-9 advantage. The Knights narrowed the gap down to four points at 18-14 before another late surge allowed East Carolina to win the set 25-17. Junior outside hitter Melissa Zentner tallied three kills in the set while freshman outside hitter Amanda Lutzow picked up two. Defense was really the story for the Pirates, as six players collected at least two digs and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Erica Banning had four blocks, including three solos. The stout ECU defense also held UCF to a -.128 hitting percentage in the opening frame.
East Carolina held onto five point advantages of 5-0, 10-5 and 15-10 to begin the second set before the Knights cut the lead down to three points at 17-14. ECU then built the lead back up and was ahead by six points at 21-15. UCF rallied again, however, winning five straight points to trail by just one at 21-20 before forcing a 23-23 tie. The Pirates had two chances to close out the set before the Knights had an opportunity of their own to win, leading 26-25. ECU fought off the UCF chance and, on the Pirates' sixth set-point, another Banning block gave the Pirates the 31-29 victory. Junior outside hitter Stephanie Turner and Banning both pounded down four kills and Turner also picked up three blocks in the set. Defensive specialist Trish Monroe led the back row with eight digs.
After a 3-3 tie to start the third set, UCF won six of the next seven points to take a 9-4 lead which it would hold onto for the remainder of the set. The Pirates closed to within three points at 11-8, but the Knights answered by running off seven of the next 10 points to lead 18-11 before winning 25-14. Turner added three kills to her total and Monroe totaled nine more digs in the set.
The teams played it close to start the final set as the score was knotted at points one through seven. After the 7-7 score, East Carolina won five straight points to take a 12-7 lead. UCF trimmed the ECU advantage down to three points at 14-11 and again at 16-13, but could get no closer. The Pirates were ahead by as many as 10 at 23-13 until a late Knight rally made the final score 25-17 in favor of the hosts.
It was a total team effort for East Carolina on the day as six players tallied at least five kills and seven recorded at least one block. Turner, Banning and Zentner all tied for the team lead in kills with eight and Monroe led the defense with 22 digs in her final appearance in Minges Coliseum. Banning also finished with eight blocks, just one shy of her career-high. Junior setter Hannah Fenker had a solid performance as well, collecting her fourth double-double of the season with 36 assists and 12 digs.
Next up for the Pirates is a trip to Huntington, W. Va., Saturday to take on Marshall in the final C-USA regular season match. Earlier this season in Greenville, ECU recorded a 3-1 victory, defeating the Thundering Herd for the first time in program history.
