East Carolina University
USF
East Carolina Takes Down USF, 3-1
October 10, 2014 | Volleyball
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina had three players score in double-figures Friday night as the Pirates defeated USF, 3-1 [25-18, 7-25, 25-20, 25-21], at Minges Coliseum. With the win, the Pirates improve to 9-5 overall and 2-3 in the American Conference, while the Bulls drop to 8-10 on the year and 2-4 in league action.
The Pirates won game one, but had a rough outing in the second set as they were only able to muster seven points in the frame. However, East Carolina managed to put it behind them and come back to win the third and fourth sets and claim the match.
"We knew what we had to do when we came back from intermission," Head coach Julie Torbett said. "We had a game plan and we didn't need to vary from that. I think we just needed to have confidence. Having the confidence to come back out and play our game, know our role and do that well. I think they responded well."
East Carolina finished the match with 49 kills as sophomore outside hitter Sydney Darden and freshman outside hitter Ashton Mares each knocked down a match-high 12. Sophomore middle hitter Ashley McRae added 11 kills of her own to add to the Pirates' total.
Darden and Mares showed their versatility as they collected 11 and 12 digs, respectively, on defense to each earn a double-double in the contest. Junior defensive specialist Erika Figueroa also contributed to the defensive effort with 11 digs of her own.
Senior setter Zarah Cecich paced the Pirates' offense with 41 assists while adding nine digs, four kills and a pair of block assists.
The Pirates opened the match with back-to-back kills from freshman Natalie Montini and Mares to go up 2-0 on the Bulls. The first set was close early on, but a kill by Darden put ECU out in front for good. East Carolina held a comfortable lead for the remainder of the set and went on to win, 25-18.
USF had its best set of the match in game two as the Bulls came out swinging and jumped out in front, 7-0. The Bulls hit .579 in the frame without committing an attack error and the USF defense forced the Pirates into a negative attack percentage (-.222) as ECU could not overcome the early hole it dug itself into, as they dropped the set, 25-7. The Pirates used the 10-minute intermission to regroup and make a game plan.
"Ashley McRae who is ranked 10th in the nation in hitting percentage was making some uncharacteristic hitting errors [in the second set]," Torbett said. "You have to put those things behind you. Lucky for us, we were able to start back at zero in set three and we didn't have to look at that hole. It was over. We were even, one game to one, and we needed to see who wanted the next two. That's the way it goes."
East Carolina did a good job of erasing set two from its mind as the Pirates stayed close on the Bulls' heels even when USF took a three-point advantage (4-7). The Pirates battled back and evened the score at 16-all after McRae knocked down back-to-back kills. Mares followed that with an ace serve to give ECU the lead (17-16) and the Pirates never looked back. From that point on, East Carolina held the edge and went on to earn the win, 25-20.
Despite USF taking an early 2-0 lead in the fourth set, the Pirates paced themselves and stuck around the Bulls until the set was deadlocked at 12-12. From there, ECU slowly claimed the lead and brought the game to match point before forcing the Bulls into an attack error to end the contest. The Pirates came away with a 25-21 win over the Bulls and earned their second conference win of the year.
USF was led by Erin Fairs and Dakota Hampton as they each tallied nine kills. Fairs posted 16 digs, while Hampton added five. Alex Mendoza and Natalia Soares split setter duties as Mendoza dished out 20 assists, while Soares contributed 12. Soares also added 12 digs for a double-double.
The Pirates welcome American Conference leader UCF (12-5, 5-0 American) to Minges Coliseum for a Sunday afternoon contest at 1 p.m. The match is East Carolina's Dig Pink game where fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness. All fans who wear pink will receive $2 admission.
Live stats and video will be available on ECUPirates.com.
