East Carolina Falls In Four Sets At USF

Thursday, October 27

Tampa, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

14-7, 4-7AAC

USF

16-7, 7-4AAC

East Carolina

USF

Photo by: Rob Goldberg

October 27, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

TAMPA, Fla. – Despite a strong showing in the first set Thursday night, East Carolina could not sustain the momentum as USF recorded a 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-15) American Athletic Conference victory inside The Corrall.

Team Records: East Carolina (14-7, 4-7 AAC) | USF: (16-7, 7-4 AAC)

The Rundown: Both of East Carolina's outside hitters enjoyed solid performances as seniors Sydney Darden and I'Tiana Taylor recorded 16 and 14 kills respectively as well as 20 and 13 digs to account for a pair of double-doubles. Freshman libero Brandee Markwith also reached double figures defensively with 18 digs. Junior middle hitter Natalie Montini finished with a pair of solo blocks. T'ara Austin paced USF with 15 kills while Amy Van Sant collected 20 digs.

The stat sheet proved to be pretty even for the most part as the Bulls held a slight 57-55 advantage in kills while the Pirates ended up with a 67-66 edge in digs. USF racked up 10.5 total blocks and limited ECU to four.

Set One: The Pirates took the lead on the first point of the match and did not relinquish the lead at any point in the stanza. ECU grew its cushion to 17-13 on a kill by Darden before the home team pulled within 21-19 with a block. East Carolina netted four of the final five points to put the set away.

Set Two: ECU fell behind quickly in the second frame, trailing 11-5 after an attack error. Using a timeout after seeing the Bulls' lead grow to 14-7, the Pirates were able to slice the deficit to 18-14 on a Taylor kill but scored just three more points the remainder of the way.

Set Three: USF looked to run away with the third stanza as well, building a 16-10 lead on an East Carolina attacking error. With the Bulls later leading 20-15, the Pirates made a big push to tie the score at 22. The teams traded the next two points before an ECU attacking miscue and a USF kill gave the Bulls the set.

Set Four: The Purple and Gold assumed a 5-4 edge early in the fourth, but the home team would score nine straight to take a 13-5 lead and essentially put the match away. USF led by no less than seven the rest of the way.

Bits and Pieces: The Bulls improved to 10-2 at home while the Pirates dropped to 7-3 in true road matches … USF upped its advantage in the series with ECU to 8-2 and has not lost to East Carolina in Tampa since 2004 … Gonzalez moved into eighth on the program career chart for assists, pushing her total to 1,838 … Senior middle Ashley McRae moved within one block of tying for eighth on the school's career list.

Up Next: East Carolina moves on to Orlando for a Saturday matchup at UCF. First serve at The Venue is scheduled for 1 p.m.