East Carolina University
8-7, 1-3
Tulsa
7-9, 2-2
East Carolina Drops Five-Set Decision at Tulsa
October 04, 2015 | Volleyball
TULSA, Okla. - The East Carolina volleyball team played a strong match behind a pair of double-doubles from Ashton Mares and Sabrina Gonzalez, while Erika Figueroa tallied 31 digs to rank fifth in the ECU single-game book, but the Pirates came up just short in a 3-2 [25-23, 20-25, 10-25, 25-19, 11-15] loss at Tulsa.
With the setback, East Carolina drops to 8-7 on the year and 1-3 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Golden Hurricane moves to 7-9 overall and 2-2 in conference action.
"I thought we just fell a little short but played a great match on the road," Head coach Julie Torbett explained. "Kierra [Lee-Dunson] was strong for us offensively and had a career-high in blocks. Sabrina also had a career-high in blocks and digs. Erika was amazing on defense and we had a great serving match.
"The passing was on and off, but overall I was very proud of the team and how we battled despite losing on the attacking game."
Lee-Dunson and Mares led the offense with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Mares added 15 digs, while Lee-Dunson posted eight block assists and turned in a .379 attack percentage. Gonzalez was solid at setter with her sixth double-double of the season after dishing out 37 assists and 16 digs. She also recorded seven total blocks and three kills.
Figueroa continued her strong defensive game as she registered 31 digs and now ranks fifth in the ECU single-game record book. Helping Figueroa out in the back row was defensive specialist Lauren Bewick who notched 12 digs to help contribute to a team total of 90 digs in the contest.
East Carolina held the edge on defense with 15.0 total team blocks and 90 digs. However, Tulsa led the Pirates in offensive categories as the Golden Hurricane posted 67 kills, 62 assists and 10 service aces, while ECU tallied 51 kills, 44 assists and four aces, but only committed a pair of service errors.
The Pirates won the first set, 25-23, after the two teams battled each other through eight ties and four lead changes. The first set was the closest as the conference foes each recorded 13 kills in the frame. However, East Carolina came out victorious after Ashely McRae knocked down the game-winning kill.
After dropping the first set, Tulsa regrouped and won the second and third frames as it out-hit the Pirates .302 to .256 in set two and .263 to -.088 in the third set. The Golden Hurricane used a balanced offense to record 17 and 14 kills, respectively, while their defense limited ECU to just four kills in the third set as they took a 2-1 set lead.
Despite falling behind 2-1, East Carolina came back swinging in the fourth set and hit .205 while limiting the Golden Hurricane to just .075 hitting en route to winning, 25-19, and forcing a fifth and deciding set.
The fifth set was a tight match as the two teams traded points early on. However, Tulsa broke a 5-5 tie with a kill and never looked back as the Golden Hurricane held a steady lead over East Carolina the rest of the way and defeated the Pirates, 15-11.
East Carolina returns to Minges Coliseum for the first time in nearly a month when it welcomes Tulane on Friday, Oct. 9 for a 7 p.m. match. Following that contest, the Pirates host Houston on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on ECUPirates.com for both contests.
