East Carolina University
11-16, 4-12AAC
Cincinnati
17-10, 9-7AAC
East Carolina Falls to Cincinnati, 3-0
November 15, 2015 | Volleyball
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Carly Nolan posted a match-high 17 kills to help lead Cincinnati past East Carolina in three sets (25-18, 25-22, 25-18) in an American Athletic Conference volleyball match Sunday afternoon inside Minges Coliseum.
"We could not get into a groove today," head coach Julie Torbett said. "Unfortunately, we were forced to work with another different lineup on short notice. Cincinnati did a good job of feeding its go-to hitters and they delivered for their team."
The Bearcats racked up 53 kills on 130 attempts with just 10 unforced errors to hit an even .300. Conversely, ECU fired at a .130 clip with 31 kills on 115 swings with seven unforced errors. Cincinnati edged East Carolina 59-57 in the dig column while enjoying a 9.0-4.0 advantage in blocking.
Sophomore middle hitter Natalie Montini paced the Pirate offensive efforts with seven kills on 13 attempts. She did not make an error resulting in a team-high .538 hitting mark. Senior outside hitter Torre Blake and junior middle Ashley McRae followed close behind with six kills apiece. Additionally, junior setter Sabrina Gonzalez notched her 12th double-double of the campaign by tallying 16 assists and 10 digs.
Senior libero Erika Figueroa completed a stellar defensive weekend, leading all players with 22 digs. She crept closer to setting the program's single-season standard as she is now just 24 short of the mark. Figueroa collected 58 digs in two matches over the weekend, including a program single-match best 36 against Memphis Friday.
The first set saw the squads even at three early before the Bearcats scored two straight to edge back in front. A kill by McRae gave ECU a brief 6-5 lead but a strong serving run by Lindsey Dinkelacker helped Cincinnati assume a 9-6 advantage. The Bearcats broke a later 11-11 deadlock with a 6-0 run to essentially put the set away. East Carolina stayed within striking distance at 20-16 following a Cincinnati service error. However, the visitors captured five of the last seven points to take the frame by seven.
ECU fell behind by a 6-3 margin in the second stanza but quickly tied things at seven thanks to a Montini kill. The Bearcats battled to a 16-12 cushion via a 9-5 run. However, a kill by Blake pulled the Pirates to within 18-16. Cincinnati received a pair of kills to push back in front by four and looked to pull away, but another Blake kill capped a 6-3 ECU run that made the score 23-22. The rally would fall just short though as the Bearcats used a kill and a service to close the set out.
After intermission, East Carolina did not back down and pushed out to an 8-5 lead following a Nolan attacking error. The teams then fought through a couple of the frame's 11 ties as the score settled at 14-14. Cincinnati would break open the deadlock with a 6-2 run that gave it some breathing room at 20-16. The Bearcats limited ECU to just two more points from there to end the match.
East Carolina will embark on its final road trip of the regular season next weekend heading to Houston Friday and Tulane Sunday for a pair of AAC matches.
