Volleyball Entertains Tulsa Sunday Afternoon
October 17, 2010 | Volleyball
Oct. 17, 2010
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East Carolina Volleyball Gameday Central
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina volleyball team welcomes Conference USA's top team Sunday when Tulsa travels to Minges Coliseum for a 1 p.m. contest.
The Pirates dropped a three-set decision to SMU Friday in Greenville for their sixth-straight league loss while the Golden Hurricane dispatched Marshall by the same score in Huntington.
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.
Five Golden Hurricane players hit .290 or better against the Thundering Herd Friday, including three players over .300, while a trio recorded nine or more digs, led by Jessica Adams' 16. Tulsa won its 16th-straight match and improved to 18-2 overall and 8-0 in C-USA play, extending its best start in school history both overall and in league matches.
The Hurricane hit .343 as a team (49-13-105) with 49 kills, 45 assists, four service aces, 52 digs and 6.0 blocks. Marshall hit .157 (31-15-102) with 31 kills, 29 assists, two aces, 36 digs and 6.0 blocks.
Tulsa boasts the nation's leader in kills and kills per set. Sophomore Tyler Henderson owns 448 kills in 2010 for an average of 6.69.
After today's match, the Pirates head out on the road to Tulane and Southern Miss Oct. 22 and 24, respectively. First serve in New Orleans Friday is slated for 8 p.m. ET at Fogelman Arena.
