East Carolina University
USF
Errors Plague Pirates in 3-1 Loss at USF
November 02, 2014 | Volleyball
TAMPA, Fla. - The East Carolina volleyball team committed 10 service errors, 24 attack errors and nine reception errors in a 3-1 [25-23, 18-25, 20-25, 22-25] setback at USF Sunday afternoon. The Pirates fell to 11-11 on the year and 3-9 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Bulls move to 10-14 on the season and 4-8 in league action.
Despite winning the first set, 25-23, the Pirates were unable to hold off the Bulls as USF won the final three sets to claim the victory. East Carolina was limited to .126 hitting after recording 43 kills with 24 attack errors. Additionally, the Pirates dished out 40 assists, 68 digs, 7.0 blocks and four service aces. The Bulls hit .181 with 55 kills, 51 assists, 74 digs, 8.0 blocks and nine service aces in the contest.
"Ten service errors and nine receiving errors were the primary factor in the loss today," Head coach Julie Torbett explained. "Without passing, we can't get our middles going and it becomes an outside game. I thought Erika Figueroa continued to play well and Zarah Cecich really has been a consistent force. Our other back row players struggled to do their job. We needed this win, so I hope that as we move forward into the final weeks of the conference the players will work together."
USF's Erin Fairs led the offense with a match-high 18 kills and 24 digs for a double-double, while Alex Mendoza and Natalia Soares added 22 and 21 assists, respectively.
Cecich recorded a double-double of her own with 29 assists and 12 digs. She finished the match with seven kills, three block assists, one service ace while hitting .400. Figueroa led the defense with 22 digs while contributing seven assists. Ashton Mares led ECU with 11 kills to go along with five digs, two aces and one block solo.
The Pirates tallied 12 kills with six errors to hit .162 in the first set, while the ECU defense forced the Bulls into nine attack errors to limit USF to a mere .073 attack percentage. East Carolina battled USF through five ties but was eventually able to pull out a win after a kill from Mares put the Pirates ahead for good (24-23) as ECU finished off the game with kills from Mares and Sydney Darden to seal the victory by a score of 25-23.
USF fought back after dropping the first set and hit .355 in the second frame as the Bulls held the lead throughout the game. The Pirates were held to .158 hitting as the Bulls jumped out in front by as many as 10 points (20-10). The Pirates came within six (20-14), but USF closed out the game on a kill from Fairs as the Bulls took a 25-18 victory into the intermission.
Following the intermission, the Bulls came back hitting .312 while the Pirates hit .136. Offensively, USF turned in 20 kills and took a 10-5 lead. The Pirates chipped away and managed to even the score at 19-all, but their rally was cut short as the Bulls went on to win by a score of 25-20 after Fairs knocked down back-to-back kills to seal the win.
The Bulls took an early 3-0 lead, but East Carolina was quick to knot the game at 3-3. Following the initial tie, the conference foes played through 12 ties and 10 lead changes before they found themselves deadlocked at 20-20. USF broke the tie with a kill from Priscilla Ehieze and went on to win the set and match, 25-22.
East Carolina returns to Greenville, N.C., to play host to Houston on Friday, November 7. First serve is set for 7 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on ECUPirates.com.
