East Carolina University
UCF
UCF Tops Volleyball Again, 3-0
October 10, 2010 | Volleyball
Oct. 10, 2010
ORLANDO, Fla. - The East Carolina volleyball team dropped its second match in as many nights to UCF, as the home team took a 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-21) victory Sunday night at the Venue at UCF. The Pirates fall to 1-17 overall and 0-6 in league play while the Knights even their record at 9-9 and run their C-USA ledger to 2-4.
Redshirt junior Britney Roper recorded eight kills for the second-straight match to lead the offense while classmate Jackie Varnum had six. Defensively, redshirt junior Nicole Jones picked up 13 digs and has tallied double figures in four consecutive contests. In fact, she is averaging 4.6 digs per set in those matches. Additionally, junior Amanda Lutzow reached double figures with 10 digs.
The Pirates hit .134 as a team in the affair, picking up 28 kills on 97 attempts with 15 errors. Conversely, the Knights produced a sparkling .302 mark with 52 kills on 116 attacks. UCF also had the upper hand defensively, grabbing 47 digs as compared to 38 for the visitors. East Carolina did outblock the Knights 6.5 to 5.0
With the score tied at three in the first set, UCF went on a 10-1 run, prompting head coach Pati Rolf to burn a timeout. The run would continue out of the timeout, helping the Knights to a 16-6 advantage. ECU didn't come much closer the rest of the way, as UCF cruised to the set win and capped it off with an ace.
The Knights took control at the start of the second frame, scoring five of the first seven points. The Pirates drew within two at 9-7, but UCF scored three straight to take a five-point cushion and force a timeout from the East Carolina sideline. ECU fought back, pulling the score back to 16-13, but the Knights took the momentum back and upped the score to 20-15. As UCF made its way to set point, it was called for a rotation violation before Lutzow served the ball long to end the interval.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the third set on a service error, but the Knights responded with two-straight points to take back the advantage. East Carolina surged into the lead and was in front by two points for much of the middle of the frame, but UCF responded again, and eventually closed out the match with the four-point margin.
The Pirates will return to Minges Coliseum next weekend, hosting second-place SMU and league-leader Tulsa Friday and Sunday, respectively. The match against the Mustangs is slated for a 7 p.m. first serve.
