East Carolina University
Memphis
Pirates Fall To Memphis, 3-1
November 06, 2009 | Volleyball
Nov. 6, 2009
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina volleyball team played in front of a Minges Coliseum-best 1,348 fans and in front of a CBS College Sports national audience Friday night, but after winning the first set, Memphis rallied to take the next three and the contest (20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 24-26). The Pirates are now 9-17 in 2009 and 2-12 in Conference USA action while the Tigers improve to 7-22 overall and 3-11 against the league.
ECU jumped out to an 8-1 lead before Memphis rallied to within 9-6. The Pirates then broke open a tight 13-11 affair with a 6-2 run to establish some breathing room. The advantage stretched to 20-13, but the Tigers responded with a 5-1 stretch to pull to 21-18, but East Carolina recovered to out-score Memphis 4-2 to close out the set.
A tight 10-10 score in the second frame quickly turned into a 16-11 margin from which the Pirates could not recover. ECU would answer with a 7-5 run which brought it to within 21-18, however, the Tigers scored four of the last five points to tie the contest.
With Memphis leading 6-2 in the third interval, the Pirates began to lose their hitting, committing hitting and receiving errors to allow the Tigers to push ahead 21-14. East Carolina would net just two more points the rest of the way, falling behind 2-1 in the contest.
The fourth set stayed tight all the way through before the Pirates took a 15-12 advantage on a Hannah Fenker kill. The lead ballooned to 19-15 and 23-20, but Memphis produced a 4-0 run which brought it to match point at 24-23. ECU knotted the score with a Lizzy Bruin kill, but the Tigers used two-straight kills by Altrese Hawkins to snatch the match.
Bruin paced the offense with 12 kills while Bobbie Jo Stall notched a career-best 11. Additionally, Stephanie Turner and Nicole Jones picked up 11 digs to anchor the defense. The digs by Turner allowed her to match Fenker for eighth on the program digs career chart.
Memphis hit well in the match, showing at .299 while the Pirates checked in at .155. The Tigers also enjoyed the better of the defense, collecting 64 digs to 48 for East Carolina. However, the Pirates continued their blocking prowess, notching 10 blocks to Memphis' four. ECU has now out-blocked its opponent in 17 matches this season.
The Pirates return to the Minges Coliseum court on Sunday, taking on league foe UAB at 1 p.m.
