East Carolina Volleyball Unveils 2015 Schedule
July 09, 2015 | Volleyball
Downloadable ECU Volleyball Schedule | 2015 ECU Volleyball Schedule
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Entering her third season at the helm of the East Carolina volleyball program, head coach Julie Torbett announced the team's schedule for the 2015 season on Thursday. The schedule is highlighted with 13 home matches including the East Carolina Invitational which is also the Pirates' home opener, as well as a competitive 20-match conference slate.
"I feel our 2015 schedule will prepare us for the rigors of the American Athletic Conference, yet allow us to gain some confidence during the non-conference season and build some momentum going into our difficult league play," Torbett explained. "We play SEC foe South Carolina on their court as well as Hampton, who made it to the NCAA Tournament last season. At home, we face Western Carolina in an east versus west state showdown that should prove to be very exciting."
The Pirates open the season on the road at Savannah State (Aug. 30), before heading to Durham, N.C., to take on North Carolina Central (Sept. 1). ECU's first tournament of the year will be held in Davidson, N.C., as the Pirates go head-to-head with Presbyterian, Hampton and the host Wildcats. The Davidson Tournament runs from September 4-5.
After a few weeks on the road, East Carolina welcomes Hampton, William & Mary and Western Carolina to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum for the East Carolina Invitational. The Pirates' only home tournament of the season takes place on September 11 and 12. A year ago, ECU earned a co-championship along with UNC Wilmington in the East Carolina Invitational after both teams swept the tournament with identical 3-0 records.
ECU wraps up the non-conference portion of its schedule at the South Carolina Invitational in Columbia, S.C. During that tournament, the Pirates will take on the host Gamecocks as well as Wofford and Charleston Southern on September 18 and 19.
East Carolina kicks off American Athletic Conference action on the road as the Pirates play at Cincinnati (Sept. 25), Memphis (Sept. 27), SMU (Oct. 2) and Tulsa (Oct. 4) before hosting Tulane in the conference opener on October 9.
The Pirates and Houston meet in Greenville, N.C., on October 11 before ECU hits the road again as it heads to Storrs, Conn., to take on UConn (Oct. 16) and Philadelphia, Pa., to face Temple (Oct. 18).
"Our conference is very strong with UCF and SMU leading the way," Torbett explained. "Both teams flirted with Top 25 rankings last season. Tulsa and Temple were the only other two teams we were unable to defeat last year and they will be tough again."
ECU returns to Minges Coliseum for the next few weeks as the Pirates welcome UCF (Oct. 23), USF (Oct. 25), Tulsa (Oct. 30) and SMU (Nov. 1). The Pirates follow that home stand with a trip to Florida to face USF (Nov. 6) and UCF (Nov. 8) before hosting Memphis (Nov. 13) and Cincinnati (Nov. 15) at home.
In the final week of the regular season, East Carolina battles it out on the road against Houston (Nov. 20) and Tulane (Nov. 22), before closing out the year against UConn (Nov. 25) and Temple (Nov. 27) inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
"All in all, the goal is to continue to improve in every area of our program," Torbett stated. "We know the wins will come as we build a solid foundation for the future."
