East Carolina University
Marshall
Fenker Makes History In 2009 Season Finale
November 14, 2009 | Volleyball
Nov. 14, 2009
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit, but Marshall shut the home team down in the fourth frame, taking a 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-15) win at Minges Coliseum Saturday. The Pirates end the 2009 campaign at 9-19 overall and 2-14 in Conference USA play, while the Herd will enter the league tournament at 22-8 overall and 10-6 in league action.
Senior Hannah Fenker became the first player in program history to record 2,000 assists and 1,000 digs in a career, notching 37 assists and eight digs. She will also finish her four-year stint in the East Carolina top five ledger in assists and top 10 in digs.
Additionally, classmate Stephanie Turner notched her fifth double-double of the campaign in her final appearance at Minges Coliseum, putting down 16 kills and picking up 14 digs. She finishes ninth in program history for kills with 953 and eighth in digs with 1,016.
With Marshall leading 10-7 in the first frame, the Herd ripped off a 10-4 run to put the set away. The Pirates made a comeback, out-scoring Marshall 10-3 to make the score 23-21. ECU fended off one set point, but Elizabeth Herman closed the interval out with a kill.
The Herd jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second set, forcing the Pirates to take their first timeout. East Carolina had the answer though, rallying to pull within one at 15-14 on a Marshall attack error. The Pirates would come as close as 22-20, but a 3-1 run enabled the Herd to claim the set.
ECU was the aggressor at the outset of frame three, taking a 5-2 advantage, but Marshall quickly rallied back and tied things up at 10. The Pirates regained the lead at 12-11, but a 6-3 run let the Herd move back in front, 17-15. After an East Carolina push knotted the score at 21, the Pirates collected three-straight points to capture their first set point of the afternoon. Marshall pulled to within 24-23, but Turner ripped a kill into the heart of the Herd defense to keep her team alive in the match.
Marshall quelled all signs of an ECU comeback, racing out to a 9-3 lead in the fourth set. The Pirates drew to within 14-10, but that was as close as they would get as the Herd out-scored the home side 11-5 the rest of the way.
Senior Melissa Zentner also reached double-digit kills at 10 while redshirt sophomore Nicole Jones notched 11 digs to anchor the back row.
Marshall out-hit East Carolina .205-.118 while also recording more digs (58-49). The Pirates did have the better of the blocking, notching nine to the Herd's seven.
