East Carolina University
10-8, 3-4
UConn
9-10, 3-5
Pirates Fall In Five Sets At UConn
October 16, 2015 | Volleyball
STORRS, Conn. --- The East Carolina volleyball team dropped a five-set match to UConn on Friday afternoon in American Athletic Conference action. The Pirates lost the first set, but then claimed the next two before the Huskies rallied to win the final two.
Ashton Mares led East Carolina (10-8, 3-4) with her fourth consecutive double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs. Kierra Lee-Dunson followed with 14 kills and six block assists, as Sabrina Gonzalez dished out 41 assists. Defensively, Erika Figueroa registered 26 digs to go over the 1,100 mark for her career and move into the top-5 on the school's all-time list with 1,125.
"I felt like we played well enough to win but didn't capitalize on opportunities," Pirate head coach Julie Torbett said. "Our defense is good between blocking and digs as well as our serving game, but we need to get more kills.
"Ashton had a great match all the way around and Kiera was strong. Erika is one of the best in the conference at the libero position."
Jade Strawberry put down a game-high 24 kills and 14 digs to lead the Huskies (9-10, 3-5) to their second straight win. UConn had three players with double-digit kills and digs. Arundel Kennedy recorded 19 digs, while Rebecca Rivera had 38 assists and Emma Turner 24.
With the first set tied at 14-all, UConn rolled off six straight points to take a commanding advantage, but the Pirates went on a 13-4 run to pull within a point before Danielle Cabel put the set away for the Huskies, 25-23.
ECU bounced back to take the next two sets, 25-21 each. The Pirates hit a match-high .294 in the second set and then held UConn to a .135 hitting percentage in the third set.
The Huskies took the fourth set, 25-18, hitting .316 with 16 kills. Leading by one, 14-13, UConn scored seven of the next eight points to tie the match.
The first four points of the deciding set belonged to UConn, which rushed out to an 8-2 lead before ECU scored six straight to tie the set at 8-8. The Huskies scored the next two points and eventually went up 14-9 before the match ended on a service error.
"It was a tough loss, but we need to bounce back on Sunday," Torbett stated. "We continue to get better as have battled with every team in the conference except SMU. We are in the equation now and we will just focus on getting better."
East Carolina continues conference play Sunday against Temple. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Philadelphia.
