East Carolina Drops 2016 Home Opener To UCF, 3-1

Friday, September 30

Greenville, N.C.

5:30 p.m.

East Carolina University

10-3, 0-3AAC

UCF

13-3, 3-0AAC

UCF

East Carolina

September 30, 2016 | Volleyball

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GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina volleyball team played its first home match of the 2016 campaign Friday evening, falling to American Athletic Conference leader UCF 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 30-32, 12-25) in front of a Minges Coliseum crowd of 813.

Team Records: East Carolina 10-3, 0-3 AAC | UCF: 13-3, 3-0 AAC

Torbett's Take: "We were extremely competitive tonight against a team that came in here on a seven-match winning streak and undefeated in the AAC. Losing the third set after leading 24-20 is a missed opportunity and I feel we would have won the match if we had taken that set. We need more kills from our offense, but I was pleased once again with the consistency of freshman libero Brandee Markwith who led all players in digs for the third-straight match. We are facing the top teams in the conference right now and playing right with them so I believe it's only a matter of time before we start to win some of these close matches."

Senior setter Sabrina Gonzalez finished just five kills shy of a triple-double, ending up with 42 assists, 12 digs, five kills and four blocks. Classmate and outside hitter Sydney Darden also posted a double-double of 12 kills and 12 digs to go along with four blocks. Markwith collected 22 digs to lead four Pirates in double figures defensively as junior outside hitter Ashton Mares finished with 10. Senior middle Ashley McRae tallied seven blocks as well as five kills to round out the stat sheet. As for the Knights, Jale Hervey notched a match-high 21 kills as well as eight digs while Kia Bright contributed 12 kills and 17 digs.

UCF hit .303 in the fourth frame to finish the evening with a .221 (64k/24e/181ta) offensive mark. The Knights were able to limit the Pirates to -.167 efficiency in the fourth stanza, resulting in a .149 showing for East Carolina overall. The teams were virtually even in the defensive categories with ECU tallying more digs (77-75) and UCF edging the Pirates in total blocks (13.0-12.0).

Set One: A Hervey kill put the Knights ahead early 4-1 but East Carolina battled to knot the score at 12 following a UCF attacking error. The visitors began to pull away later in the frame, building a 20-17 lead. The Pirates made one last push and tied things at 22 thanks to a kill by junior middle Natalie Montini. However, two kills and an ECU attacking error allowed the Knights to win the set by three.

Set Two: East Carolina forced UCF into a timeout when a McRae kill made the score 11-7 in favor of the Pirates. The Knights answered back with four straight to knot the frame and a point-for-point battle ensued from there. With the score tied at 18, ECU notched the next four points and extended the lead to 23-19 after a Montini kill. UCF pulled within 24-22 late, but the Pirates closed the set out by three to tie the match at intermission.

Set Three: Once again, the Knights had to call the first timeout in the third stanza when a kill by Mares afforded East Carolina a 14-12 edge. The Pirates did not budge and made UCF burn its final timeout after a big stuff block by McRae and freshman middle Toya Osuegbu made it 20-17 in favor of the Purple and Gold. ECU looked to be on the verge of taking the frame when it led 24-20, but the Knights dug down and mustered five-straight points to reach a set point of its own. Darden used a kill to tie the score at 25 and the sides went back and forth before UCF utilized a block and Hervey kill to break a 30-30 deadlock and win the set.

Set Four: Energized by the comeback, the Knights bolted out to an 8-1 lead and did not look back. UCF would take leads of 13-7 and 19-8 before clinching the match on a kill by Hervey.

Bits and Pieces: UCF extended its winning streak to eight matches with its second road win of the season ... The Pirates recorded double-digit blocks as a team for the third-straight match to open conference play ... The Knights won their fifth-straight match in Greenville ... ECU will try to split the season series for the second-straight campaign when the teams match up Oct. 29 in Orlando.

Up Next: East Carolina continues its homestand Sunday with a 1 p.m. matchup against USF.