East Carolina Knocks Off UConn, 3-2
November 25, 2015 | Volleyball
Box Score | Box Score 
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina built a two-set lead over UConn Wednesday afternoon before fending off the Huskies 3-2 (25-18, 25-21, 16-25, 17-25, 15-12) in an American Athletic Conference volleyball contest inside Minges Coliseum.
Senior libero Erika Figueroa, who was recognized before the match for becoming the program's single-season leader in total digs, broke her own single-match record with a career-high 37 digs. She now has 603 in 30 matches with one more contest left on the schedule.
"We had a lot of high-level performances from our team today - especially in the first two sets," head coach Julie Torbett said. "The girls wanted this win for our home crowd as we only have one more chance to play in front of Pirate Nation this year. We look forward to honoring our seniors after Friday's match."
Also setting a new career high was sophomore outside hitter Ashton Mares who tallied a personal-best 24 kills to go along with 14 digs and a .333 hitting percentage -- good for her 14th double-double of the campaign. Freshman setter Haley Bidgood also procured a double-double by notching 10 kills and 16 assists. Reaching double figures as well defensively was senior Lauren Bewick who chipped in with 12 digs of her own.
Jade Strawberry paced the Huskies with 20 kills as well as 10 digs while Rebecca Rivera collected 45 assists and 15 digs.
ECU used a .529 offensive showing in the fifth set to finish with a .273 hitting mark. Conversely, UConn ended up at .231 thanks to 64 kills on 173 attempts with 24 errors (15 unforced). The Pirates racked up 59 kills on 154 swings and committed just six unforced errors. East Carolina had the better of it in the digs column by a 78-69 margin while the Huskies out-blocked ECU 11.0 to 9.0.
The Pirates earned some separation midway through the opening frame, breaking open a 9-9 deadlock with four-straight points. After an East Carolina ball-handling error allowed UConn to draw within 13-12, Mares put down a kill to spark a 5-3 run that put ECU on top 18-15. The Pirates kept applying pressure after a Huskies timeout and another Mares kill made the score 22-16. UConn signaled for its second and final timeout of the set but East Carolina did not budge. ECU would net three of the final five points to win the stanza by seven.
The Huskies were forced to utilize their first timeout of the second frame when consecutive kills by Bidgood put the Pirates in front 10-8. UConn responded with three-straight points but Mares tied things at 11 with a kill. East Carolina started to pull ahead from there and led 14-11. The Huskies came right back with three unanswered points and knotted the proceedings at 14.
Neither team could wriggle free over the next few rallies as the score settled at 19 apiece. A kill by Bidgood, an ace by junior outside hitter Sydney Darden and a pair of Mares kills changed that, however, as ECU raced to a 23-19 edge. UConn pulled within two at 23-21 with two-straight kills before Bidgood and junior middle hitter Ashley McRae shut the door with two kills of their own to give the Pirates the set.
The Huskies came out with a purpose after the intermission and knocked East Carolina back on its heels by scoring eight of the first nine points. UConn built leads of 15-4 and 19-9 before settling for the nine-point set three victory.
ECU regrouped at the beginning of the fourth frame and scored the first two points. The Huskies were able to forge a 4-4 tie a few rallies later and would go on to take a 13-8 advantage following a kill by Strawberry. East Carolina was not able to catch up as UConn won the set by eight to force the decider.
In a fifth stanza in which both squads hit over .500, a Figueroa service ace gave ECU the early 3-1 edge. The teams traded the lead back and forth until reaching an 8-8 deadlock. Mares put down a kill and an ace consecutively to put East Carolina up 10-8 and force a Husky timeout. Mares came through with another ace after the timeout but two-straight UConn scores kept the visitors close at 11-10. A big kill by Montini erased the Huskies' momentum and she would put down another kill to cap a 3-1 run and send ECU to match point. Iman McGary saved UConn one match point with a kill. However, Montini delivered once again with a kill to clinch the contest.
East Carolina closes out the 2015 season Friday with a home match against AAC foe Temple at 1 p.m.
