East Carolina University
SMU
ECU Falls Short Against SMU, 3-0
October 15, 2010 | Volleyball
Oct. 15, 2010
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina volleyball team had all three of its back row players record double-digit digs Friday night at Minges Coliseum, but SMU produced four in double figures as it captured a 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-16, 25-11).
Freshman Shelby Beasley tallied a career-high 23 digs while redshirt junior Nicole Jones and senior Marina Gusman-Brown racked up 17 and 13, respectively. Jones now has 83 digs in her last five contests, an average of 4.61 per set. Offensively, junior Amanda Lutzow paced the squad with eight kills to go along with eight digs. At the net, redshirt sophomore Kelly Derby and freshman setter Kasey Kavanaugh shared the team lead with four blocks apiece.
The Mustangs held advantages in kills (37-28), hitting percentage (.173 to .007) and digs (75-68), but the Pirates were able to out-block them 7.5 to 5. SMU's passing was on point as well, holding ECU without a service ace.
Holding a 4-1 lead in the first set, the Mustangs upped it to 13-5 on a Dana Powell kill, but the Pirates responded with an 8-4 run and drew within 17-13 - forcing a timeout from the visitor sideline. East Carolina cut its deficit to just two at 19-17 when Lutzow tallied a kill, but a 6-1 SMU spurt ended the frame quickly after.
The Mustangs jumped out to another 4-1 advantage in the second interval, stretching the lead to 14-7 as Jessica Oliver found the floor and drew a Pirate timeout. A modest 3-1 run by ECU made the score 15-10, however, SMU scored on 10 of the last 16 rallies to head to intermission up two sets to none.
Out of the break, the Mustangs edged ahead 6-4 and subsequently went on a 3-1 run to make the score 9-5. The Pirates sliced the lead to three on a Hannah Allgood kill, but that was as close as they would get. A devastating 14-3 stretch was all SMU needed to close out the contest.
East Carolina will try to record its first league win of the season when C-USA's top team, Tulsa, invades Minges Coliseum Sunday. First serve between the Pirates and Golden Hurricane is set for 1 p.m.
