East Carolina University
2-0
North Carolina Central
0-4
East Carolina Wins in Straight Sets at NC Central
September 01, 2015 | Volleyball
DURHAM, N.C. - Sophomore middle blocker Natalie Montini tied her career-high with 11 kills as she helped lead East Carolina to its second sweep in as many matches. ECU held off NC Central (0-4) by scores of 25-21, 25-22, 25-13 to improve to 2-0 on the year.
"I am happy with the road win," Head coach Julie Torbett stated. "The match was very close for the first two sets. We made some adjustments and found our timing with our middles and that was the difference in the third set. We also got aggressive serving from our back row players."
Montini posted 11 kills for the third time in her career as she was the only Pirate to tally double-figure kills in the contest. Pacing the offense was junior setter Sabrina Gonzalez who finished the match with 31 assists, while adding three kills, two digs and one block assist. Senior defensive specialist Erika Figueroa posted a match-high 21 digs as her defensive effort helped ECU limit the Eagles to a .133 attack percentage.
"Erika had a solid match in the back court with 21 digs and Natalie did a nice job at the net with double-figure kills," Torbett said. "We will need to get better blocking with our set distribution as our competition gets tougher as we go."
The match was close early on as the Pirates and Eagles fought through 10 ties in the first set, before Montini gave ECU a 22-21 lead on a kill set up nicely by Gonzalez. With Alex Jessett serving, the Pirates knocked down four consecutive points to win the first set, 25-21.
East Carolina and NC Central battled through the second set just as the two teams had in the first frame. The Eagles took a 7-3 lead early in the game, but the Pirates fought back and pulled within one (8-7), before the hosts extended their lead to six (13-7) forcing an ECU timeout. The Pirates came out of the break in action and cut the Eagles' lead to three (14-11) and eventually took a 19-18 edge. The Eagles would tie it up at 20-20, before East Carolina sealed the game, 25-22, with a kill off the hands of senior opposite Sierra Lee-Dunson.
NC Central took a quick, but short-lived, 2-0 lead in the third set. The Pirates did not take long to capitalize on a few Eagle errors as they jumped out in front 7-3 after Jessett tallied back-to-back service aces. ECU never looked back as the Pirates found their momentum and cruised to a 25-13 en route to completing the sweep.
In the final set, East Carolina out-hit NC Central .429 to .135. The Pirates' offense was on point as they committed just one attack error in the frame.
ECU continues its road swing as the Pirates head to Davidson, N.C., for the Davidson Tournament which begins Friday, September 4 and concludes Saturday, September 5. East Carolina will meet Presbyterian on Friday at 4:30 p.m., before taking on Hampton and host, Davidson, on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.
