East Carolina University
11-14, 4-10AAC
UCF
14-12, 8-6AAC
Volleyball Turns Away UCF, 3-2
November 08, 2015 | Volleyball
ORLANDO, Fla. - East Carolina rallied from a 2-1 deficit to pick up a five-set (25-23, 17-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-9) American Athletic Conference victory over UCF Sunday afternoon inside The Venue.
The Pirates (11-14, 4-10 AAC) snapped the Knights'(14-12, 8-6 AAC) five-match winning streak while picking up their first victory since a 3-0 triumph over Houston back on Oct. 11 in Greenville. ECU also recorded its first win over UCF since 2009 and its first victory in Orlando since Sept. 28, 2007.
"This is a big win for our team," head coach Julie Torbett said. "Ashley McRae had a phenomenal match. I loved her fire and passion. We were able to feed off of the energy inside the building and came out on top."
The Pirate offense was unstoppable in the final two sets as ECU hit .463 and .360 to finish with a .228 mark. East Carolina did not make an error in the fourth stanza and recorded 19 kills in that set before putting down 11 kills in the deciding frame. The Pirates also won the battle at the net, tallying 11 total blocks to the Knights' eight. The teams combined for 184 digs with ECU coming up with 90 - a season high-matching total (90 at Tulsa Oct. 4).
McRae turned in a solid all-around effort as she exploded for a career-high 19 kills to go along with four blocks (one solo). She was joined in double figures offensively by senior middle hitter Kierra Lee-Dunson, sophomore outside hitter Ashton Mares and sophomore middle hitter Natalie Montini who chipped in with 13, 13 and 10 respectively.
Senior libero Erika Figueroa finished with 20 digs and was one of five Pirates to reach double digits. She upped her season total to 446 which is currently the sixth-highest mark in single-season program history. Junior outside hitter Sydney Darden came up big defensively for the second-straight match with 17 digs.
Mares completed her team-leading 12th double-double adding 13 digs to her 13 kills while junior setter Sabrina Gonzalez ended up with 49 assists and 16 digs for her 10th double-double of the campaign.
East Carolina scored the first two points of the match and found itself ahead 6-4 following a block by Lee-Dunson and Darden. The Pirates kept the pressure on in a big way and forced the Knights into a number of offensive miscues on the way to a huge 15-8 lead. After an attacking error by Jale Hervey made the score 18-11 in favor of ECU, the Knights responded with a 9-2 run that knotted the score at 20.
UCF pulled ahead 22-21 thanks to an Abbie Fleener kill but the Pirates did not back down. A big solo block by Mares tied it and Taylor Gallart committed an offensive miscue gave East Carolina a 23-22 edge that would be enough for ECU to win the set by two.
The Pirates were behind by three early in the second stanza but answered with four straight to assume an 8-7 lead. The Knights pushed back in front 12-9 and looked to pull away. East Carolina had other intentions though and used a pair of McRae kills to pull even at 12. UCF was able to gain some traction at that point as a Taylor Wickey kill sparked a 12-4 run that put the set away and allowed the Knights to tie the match at one set apiece heading into the intermission.
East Carolina again came out the aggressor in the third set and raced out to a sizable lead at 17-12. UCF stole the momentum away, however, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to take a 22-19 advantage. A service error and Lee-Dunson kill made things interesting and drew the Pirates within 22-21 but the Knights settled and ended the stanza on a 3-1 run to put themselves ahead 2-1 in the match.
Each team took leads of three early in the fourth frame as the score settled with UCF ahead 13-10. A trio of kills from three different Pirates forced a 13-13 tie and ECU was off and running from there. East Carolina ratcheted up the offense and wrestled away 12 of the final 17 points of the set to win it 25-18 and send the match to the decider.
It was all Pirates early in the fifth stanza as a Montini kill gave ECU a 6-2 cushion. East Carolina stretched its lead to five at 9-4 before the homestanding Knights made one last push. After a Maddie Hagerty kill erased a majority of the Pirate lead, ECU used a timeout holding on to a 10-9 edge. As it turns out, UCF would not score again as McRae fittingly ended the match with two-straight kills.
East Carolina returns home for a pair of AAC matches next weekend against Memphis and Cincinnati. The contest with the Tigers, scheduled for Nov. 13, serves as the front end of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team. The volleyball Pirates will look to set a program single-match attendance record that evening.
