Gameday: Volleyball Looks To Extend Winning Streak At Home

Matches 19-20: Tulane and Houston
The Matches	Oct. 13: vs. Tulane \\\ 7 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video Oct. 15: vs. Houston \\\ 12:30 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video
Venue	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum
Tickets	E CU Online Ticket Center
Social Media	@ECUVB (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ Facebook \\\ @ECUScoreboard (In-Match Updates) \\\ #ECUndaunted

Weekly Release No. 8 (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Having won three-straight matches, ECU welcomes American Athletic Conference opponents Tulane and Houston to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Friday and Sunday respectively.

Weekend Promotions
Friday: "Dig Pink" for breast cancer awareness – Sponsored by Vidant ... Free t-shirts to the first 200 fans ... Cancer Survivor Recognition ... Postmatch autographs.

The Pirates defeated Temple and Connecticut both in four sets last weekend to catapult into a third-place tie in the league standings. The victory over the Owls was the first for ECU in program history.

Senior outside hitter Lael Ceriani paces the team with a 3.31 kills per set average while freshman right side Bri Wood and senior middle hitter Natalie Montini check in with 2.72 and 2.40 kills per set marks. Montini is hitting .319 and averaging 1.03 blocks per set. Sophomore libero Brandee Markwith sports a league fourth-best 5.19 digs per set average – good for 29th nationally.

The Green Wave and Cougars are a combined 3-8 in AAC matches as Tulane (1-4) is in 11th place and Houston (2-4) in a five-way tie for sixth. Due to Tropical Storm Nate, the Green Wave's match against Memphis that was scheduled for Sunday was postponed.

The Pirates own a 7-4 record at home this season while Tulane is 3-2 and Houston is 0-4 in true road matches.

Looking At Tulane
Tulane is 12-6 overall and 1-4 in AAC matches following a 3-0 loss to Wichita State last Friday. Lexie Douglas leads four Green Wave players that average 2.14 kills per set or better with a 2.35 mark while Kaylie McHugh anchors the back row with a 5.00 digs per set average. Collectively, Tulane averages 12.80 kills, 12.42 assists, 1.56 aces, 15.24 digs and 1.91 blocks per set as well as sporting a .199 hitting percentage. The Green Wave ranks second in the conference in aces per set and fourth in assists per set.

The Series: Tulane
Tulane leads the series with ECU by a 17-4 count after the teams split the season series in 2016 with each side winning on the road. The Pirates have captured three of the last five meetings.

Scouting Houston
Houston takes a 6-8 overall record and 2-4 league mark into its Friday match at Cincinnati. Megan Duncan and Brianna Lynch power the Cougar offense with respective 2.52 and 2.50 kills per set averages while Katie Karbo has been the top statistical defensive performer for Houston, sporting a 5.30 digs per set mark. As a unit, the Cougars average 12.53 kills, 11.68 assists, 1.64 aces, 15.91 digs and 2.00 blocks per set as well as owning a .165 hitting percentage. Houston leads the league in both opposing hitting percentage and aces per set.

The Series: Houston
The Pirates swept the season series over the Cougars last season to improve to 5-16 against Houston. ECU has won four of the last six meetings luding the last two in Greenville.

Leftovers From Sunday's Victory at Connecticut
ECU swept a road weekend in conference play for the second-straight season after beating Tulane and Houston respectively in October of the 2016 campaign … The Pirates improved to 4-3 against Connecticut and 2-2 in matches played in Storrs … ECU is off to its best start in league play as a member of the American Athletic Conference, winning four of its first six contests including three away from home … Head coach Julie Torbett needs just five more victories to become the winningest head coach in program history … ECU has out-blocked seven-straight opponents and nine of the last 11.

ECU At-A-Glance
Record - 12-6 (.667) // AAC Record - 4-2 (.667) // Last 5 Matches - 4-1 (.800) // Last 10 Matches - 7-3 (.700) // Last 15 Matches - 10-5 (.667) // ECU will play the 143rd match of the Julie Torbett era when it hosts Tulane on Friday // East Carolina's all-time record stands at 489-775 in its 41st season of competition.

Up Next
ECU wraps up the first half of conference play next weekend, hitting the road for matches at Memphis (Friday) and Wichita State (Sunday).

Gameday: Volleyball Looks To Extend Winning Streak At Home

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Players Mentioned

Lael Ceriani

Brandee Markwith

Natalie Montini

Bri Wood

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