Southern Miss Tops ECU, 3-0

Oct. 24, 2010

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The East Carolina volleyball team could not snap its losing skid Sunday, falling in three sets (25-15, 25-16, 25-21) to Southern Miss at Reed Green Coliseum. The Pirates are 1-21 overall and 0-10 in league matches while the Golden Eagles improved to 12-9 and 6-5.

Juniors Amanda Lutzow and Nicole Jones combined for 33 digs to lead East Carolina defensively while sophomore Kelly Derby racked up four blocks. Junior Jackie Varnum paced the offense for the second-straight match, tallying seven digs. Southern Miss held the advantage in hitting (.260-.102), kills (44-30) and digs (62-56), but the Pirates did out-block the home team 6-5.

Southern Miss jumped out to a 11-6 lead to force ECU to call its first timeout. The Pirates drew within 15-10, but the Golden Eagles used a 3-0 run to push ahead by eight. With Southern Miss at set point, East Carolina scored three-straight to cut the deficit to 10, but a Golden Eagle block ended the frame.

The second frame was tight in the beginning, but Southern Miss earned a 10-5 lead after a long rally to draw a timeout from the Pirates. The Golden Eagles used good defense to score seven of the next 11 points, grabbing a 17-9 advantage. Southern Miss scrapped its way to the end, out-scoring ECU 8-7 to take a 2-0 match lead.

The Golden Eagles scored the first five points of the third interval, causing head coach Pati Rolf to call timeout. The Pirates could not recover as USM took leads of 19-10 and 21-15 to close out the match.

East Carolina is at home next weekend, battling Rice and Houston Friday and Sunday. The match with the Owls will begin at 7 p.m.

Next Event

Footer