East Carolina University
Memphis
East Carolina Holds Off Memphis in 3-2 Victory
November 21, 2014 | Volleyball
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Pirates turned in three double-figure kill performances and a pair of double-doubles as East Carolina edged Memphis, 3-2 [25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 13-25, 15-11] at Elma Roane Fieldhouse Friday night. ECU has won four out of its last five matches to improve 15-13 overall and 6-11 in the American Conference, while the Tigers drop to 22-10 (12-6 American). The 15 victories and six conference wins are the most the Pirates have accumulated in a single season since 2007.
"I am so proud of the team," Head coach Julie Torbett said. "This was the first match where everyone played well and confident. We had three hitters in double-figure kills with good percentages. Erika (Figueroa) and Zarah (Cecich) continued to lead the team offensively and defensively. That was a big time win."
East Carolina took Memphis to five sets and collected its first victory over the Tigers since 2006. The Pirates' offense was consistent throughout the match as ECU hit .217 in the contest with 61 kills. Memphis out-hit ECU with a .253 attack percentage, but East Carolina played a steady match and managed to defeat the third-ranked team in the conference by scores of 25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 13-25, 15-11.
The Pirates received strong performances from captains Erika Figueroa and Zarah Cecich once again. Figueroa paced the defense with a match-high 29 digs as she helped contribute to ECU's 73 total team digs. Cecich led East Carolina with 49 assists while adding six digs, six kills, one block assist, and one service ace while hitting .294.
Sydney Darden, Ashton Mares and Torre Blake led the offensive attack with double-figure kills. Darden and Mares recorded double-doubles with 14 kills and 14 digs each. Blake added to the Pirates' balanced offense with 10 kills while hitting .259. Ashley McRae, a sophomore middle hitter, registered another strong showing as she led the Pirates' with a .368 attack percentage after notching nine kills on 19 attempts with just two errors.
Memphis' Kate Gibson led both teams with 24 kills on .333 hitting while adding 11 digs for a double-double. Setter Veronica Zimmerman also posted a double-double with 48 assists and 16 digs. Aleksandra Petronijevic set the tone for the Tigers' defense with 19 digs.
The Pirates hit .231 in the first set and slammed 13 kills while owning a 68-percent sideout margin. East Carolina jumped out in front early on and extended its lead to 10-5 as Memphis took a timeout. The Pirates held the lead the rest of the way as they forced Memphis into another timeout as ECU led 16-9. East Carolina did not allow Memphis to chip away at the lead as the Pirates claimed the first set 25-19.
The Tigers' owned the second set as they hit .444 with 13 kills while limiting East Carolina to a .200 hitting percentage. The Pirates tallied one more kill in the frame (14) than the Tigers, however they could not overcome seven attack errors while the Tigers only committed one miscue. ECU did its best to stay close with Memphis as the Pirates evened the score at 16-all, but the Tigers regained the lead and went on to win the set, 25-19.
The intermission found the conference foes deadlocked at one set apiece as East Carolina came out in the third set and hit .225 while the Pirate defense held Memphis to just .143 hitting. The Pirates and Tigers fought through 12 ties and four lead changes, but ECU came out on top after a Mares kill put the Pirates ahead (18-17) for good. East Carolina remained ahead for the remainder of the set and edged the Tigers' 25-22.
Leading two sets to one, the Pirates posted 11 kills in the fourth frame, but it wasn't enough as Memphis collected 16 kills with just two attack errors to hit a match-high .483. The Tigers broke a 4-4 tie and surged ahead as they cruised to a 25-13 victory to force a fifth and final set.
East Carolina, which owns a 6-3 record in five-set matches, came out swinging as the Pirates took a 10-4 advantage over the Tigers. ECU never looked back as the Pirates hit .222 and limited the Tigers to just eight kills on .192 hitting. ECU led the entire fifth set and put the game away on a kill from Mares to win 15-11.
The Pirates look to continue their winning ways at Cincinnati on Sunday, November 23. First serve is set for 1 p.m. Live stats will be available on ECUPirates.com.
