East Carolina University
11-17, 4-13
Houston
19-11, 9-9
Houston Rallies Past East Carolina In Four Sets
November 20, 2015 | Volleyball
HOUSTON, Texas - Senior libero Erika Figueroa made some history Friday evening in East Carolina's 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 21-25, 20-25) loss at Houston.
Figueroa amassed 28 digs to give her 546 for the campaign - a new ECU single-season record. She was joined in double figures by senior defensive specialist Lauren Bewick and junior outside hitter Sydney Darden who chipped in with 15 and 10 digs respectively.
Offensively, sophomore outside hitter Ashton Mares and junior middle hitter Ashley McRae reached double figures with 15 and 10 kills each while McRae made just three errors in 21 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage.
"We had a tough battle tonight," head coach Julie Torbett said. "We were solid defensively as usual thanks to Erika and Lauren but we struggled to get kills. Ashley was pounding some balls down late in the match which started to get us back into it. There was just not enough consistency with our offense."
The Cougars hit .211 off of 60 kills, 175 attempts and 23 errors while the Pirates fired at a .121 clip with 44 kills and 25 errors in 157 attempts. Houston held a slight edge in the blocking column 8.0 to 7.0 but East Carolina came out on top defensively with 80 digs to the Cougars' 76.
"Houston has a good team and had a nice crowd for its Senior Night," Torbett added. "You have to bring a little extra to this match, especially having swept them earlier in the season and them knowing we have the potential to play some good volleyball at times."
East Carolina pulled out to a 4-1 lead to open the match on the strength of a pair of kills as well as two Houston errors. The Pirates kept applying pressure and went in front 8-3 after a big block by McRae and sophomore middle hitter Montini. With ECU later holding a 12-9 advantage, the Cougars scored five-straight points to establish a 14-12 cushion.
A Palmer kill saw Houston lead by 17-14 before Mares put down three-straight kills of her own to deadlock the score. The teams traded points from there and battled to a 20-20 stalemate. A Cougar attacking error and a block by senior middle Kierra Lee-Dunson and Montini afforded the Pirates a two-point edge but Houston came up with two consecutive points on ECU attacking errors to force a tie at 22. Freshman setter Haley Bidgood would record a kill off a second ball swing to put East Carolina back in front and Lee-Dunson put down a kill straight down the heart of the Cougar defense to seal the two-point Pirate victory.
ECU replicated its set one showing at the outset of the second frame, taking a 2-0 lead. A kill by senior opposite Sierra Lee-Dunson kept the Pirates in front 5-3 but Houston started to rally and scored six of the next seven points to assume a 9-6 advantage. The Cougars began to create some distance and stretch the lead to 22-13. East Carolina had one last answer as a Mares kill sparked a 5-0 run that drew the Pirates within 22-18. Houston recovered though and notched the final three points of the stanza to tie the match at intermission.
The Cougars rolled out to an 11-4 edge to begin the third set. Unfazed, ECU notched four straight to draw within three. The Pirates would eventually knot the frame at 15 following a Mares ace, but Houston proved a little too much in the end as the Cougars squeaked out the four-point margin of victory.
East Carolina netted the first two points of the fourth set thanks to a pair of Houston attacking errors. The Cougars would score six of the next seven points to pull ahead by three before a service error settled the score at 6-4. ECU was as close as 6-5 but Houston went on an 8-0 run from that point to distance itself. A kill by Bidgood ended the run and East Carolina mounted one last charge. The Pirates forced the Cougars into a timeout when Destiny Patterson committed an attacking error to make the score 21-17. The teams would side out the rest of the way, however, as Houston closed out the match with a Claire McCown kill.
ECU travels to New Orleans Sunday for its final road match of the regular season. The Pirates will take on Tulane at Devlin Fieldhouse in a 1 p.m. first serve.
