East Carolina University
Temple
Offensive Struggles Hamper Pirates in 3-1 Setback at Temple
November 14, 2014 | Volleyball
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The East Carolina volleyball team could not overcome Temple's hot-hitting as the Owls posted a .306 attack percentage as they defeated the Pirates 3-1 [15-25, 9-25, 30-28, 22-25] Friday night. ECU finished the match with a .135 hitting percentage as the Pirates fell to 13-13 (4-11 American) on the season, while the Owls improved to 22-6 (13-3).
The Pirates struggled in the first two sets as they dropped the games by scores of 25-15 and 25-9, respectively. ECU's offense was unable to hit over .100 in the first two frames, however, the intermission between sets two and three seemed to change the Pirates' tune. East Carolina came out in the third set and defeated Temple, 30-28. ECU kept the fourth set close as they fell to the Owls by three, 25-22.
"We played really well for the last two sets," Head coach Julie Torbett said of her team as they accumulated 31 kills in the final two frames.
Temple's Dara Peric paced the offense with 17 kills to go along with 16 digs for a double-double. Setter Sandra Sydlik notched a double-double as well with 42 assists and 12 digs.
East Carolina received strong showings from team captains Zarah Cecich and Erika Figueroa. Cecich posted a double-double with 43 assists and 11 digs, while Figueroa led the defense with 27 digs to go along with three assists. Ashley McRae led the offense with a .286 attack percentage after notching nine kills. Ashton Mares and Sydney Darden recorded double-figure kills with 13 and 10, respectively.
"Energy really feeds the fire of our team," Cecich explained. "When we bring high energy and positive attitudes to our personal abilities, the team has a great cohesion. We need to have that same cohesion throughout an entire match, not just two sets."
The Pirates started off slowly as they hit .025 in the first set. Temple recorded 15 kills while hitting .273 and the Owls owned an 86-percent sideout margin to hold a steady lead throughout. Despite the Pirates efforts, Temple used a balanced attack to coast to a 25-15 win.
The Owls continued that pace in the second frame as the Temple defense limited the Pirates to just .094 hitting. The Owls' offense surged as they knocked down 18 kills with just one attack error to hit .548. Temple controlled the second set and did not allow ECU to strike back as it cruised to a 25-9 victory.
The intermission allowed the Pirates to regroup and find the energy they needed to slam 18 kills in the third set while hitting .133. East Carolina's defense held the Owls' offense to its lowest attack percentage of the match as Temple hit .167. The two teams played an evenly matched set as the conference foes battled each other through 14 ties and took the set to match point on nine occasions before ECU won the set, 30-28, on a kill from Natalie Montini followed by a Temple attack error.
The fourth set of the match saw East Carolina hit .282 - its highest attack percentage of the contest. The Pirates registered 13 kills and kept the game close as they evened the score 11 times. However, Temple also turned in a strong offensive showing with 19 kills while hitting .341 as the Owls took the set by a score of 25-22.
"Temple is a great team at the top of our conference," Figueroa said. "We were able to stay with them for the last two sets. We're just ready to get back in the gym and take on UConn on Sunday."
East Carolina is looking to get back on the winning track Sunday, November 16 when the Pirates face UConn at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available on ECUPirates.com.
