East Carolina University
Cincinnati
Pirates Fall in Straight Sets at Cincinnati
November 23, 2014 | Volleyball
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The East Carolina volleyball team's offense was held to just .125 hitting and 28 kills in a three-set sweep at Cincinnati Sunday afternoon. The Pirates drop to 15-14 on the season and 6-12 in the American, while the Bearcats move to 15-15 (7-11 American) on the year.
After coming off of a 3-2 victory Friday night at Memphis, the Pirates were unable to hold off Cincinnati as the Bearcats hit .263 while knocking down 47 kills in the contest. East Carolina had a solid blocking game as the Pirates posted 7.0 total team blocks to equal Cincinnati's total team blocks. However, the Bearcats held the edge on ECU in kills (47 to 28), assists (45 to 26), digs (56 to 43) and aces (6 to 4).
"It's very common for a team to come out flat after a big win the match before," Head coach Julie Torbett explained. "This was our fifth road match in a row and the third senior day for the home teams. Cincinnati is a good team with some talented players. Their middles played very well. Ashton Mares had a good match for us."
The Bearcats were led by setter Madi Lang's double-double of 31 assists and 14 digs. Me'Ashah Nicholson was Cincinnati's offensive leader with a match-high 12 kills on .476 hitting.
Freshman outside hitter Ashton Mares led ECU with 10 kills, while adding nine digs and two block assists while hitting a team-leading .276. Zarah Cecich dished out 25 assists to go along with eight digs, two kills, one ace and one solo block. Erika Figueroa turned in 15 digs to lead the defense as she was the only Pirate to collect double-figure digs.
East Carolina kept the first set close as the Pirates opened the contest with a 1-0 lead after a block assist from Natalie Montini and Sydney Darden. After that early edge, the two teams traded points as they exchanged leads seven times and broke nine ties. In the final tie of the set, Cincinnati took advantage of an ECU attack error which led to a 5-0 Bearcat run as the hosts took a 21-16 advantage. With the game in their favor, the Bearcats went on to hold off ECU, 25-23.
Cincinnati hit .355 with 14 kills in the second set, while the Bearcats' defense limited the Pirates to a mere .033 attack percentage. East Carolina struggled offensively in the frame as the Pirates were only able to muster six kills yet were forced into five attack errors. The game was close early on, but Cincinnati's offense came to life as the Bearcats went on a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 18-10. Cincinnati continued its hot-hitting and rolled past the Pirates, 25-13.
The Pirates recovered well from their offensive struggles in the second set as they came out in the third set and tallied 11 kills. Despite ECU's efforts and the Pirates' tying the game 12 times, Cincinnati slammed 20 kills in the frame while hitting .265 en route to a 25-21 win to complete the sweep.
East Carolina returns to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum to wrap up the regular season following the Thanksgiving holiday. The Pirates welcome SMU and Tulsa to Greenville, N.C., for matches on Friday, November 28 and Saturday, November 29, respectively. Friday's contest begins at 1 p.m., while Saturday's senior day match starts at 2 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on ECUPirates.com for both contests.
