Volleyball Wins Sixth Straight With Road Sweep At Memphis

Friday, October 20

Memphis, Tenn.

8:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

15-6, 7-2

Memphis

8-13, 1-8

ECU

Memphis

Photo by: Rob Goldberg

Volleyball Wins Sixth Straight With Road Sweep At Memphis

October 20, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – ECU dominated Memphis on the road Friday night, sweeping the Tigers 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-20) to run its winning streak to six matches inside the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The Pirates kept pace with Temple in the standings as the teams are now in a two-way tie for third place after Cincinnati fell at Wichita State later in the evening.

Team Records: ECU (15-6, 7-2 AAC) | Memphis (8-13, 1-8 AAC)

Torbett's Take: "That was just a really impressive offensive performance by the team tonight. I was really pleased with the way Ashton Mares played defensively. Winning on the road is tough, no matter which team you are playing in this conference, so it's a great feeling to pick up a sweep in a hostile gym."

The Pirates hit a season-high .358 in the match, putting down 51 kills on 109 attempts with only 12 errors. Conversely, the Tigers managed a .179 clip with 37 kills on 106 swings with 18 attacking miscues. ECU also held the upper hand in digs (47-37) and total blocks (9.0-3.0).

A trio of Pirates in freshman setter Shelby Martin, senior middle hitter Natalie Montini and senior outside hitter Lael Ceriani each paced the ECU offense with 10 kills each while Martin posted her third-straight double-double by adding 34 assists. Montini, as well as freshman right side Bri Wood, finished with a .500 hitting percentage. Defensively, senior outside hitter Ashton Mares collected a match-high 15 digs while Wood and sophomore middle hitter Toya Osuegbu racked up five blocks apiece.

Set One: ECU controlled the first frame from the outset, taking a 7-3 lead after a kill by Wood. After a Memphis timeout, the Pirates pulled further in front by building an 18-13 advantage on a nice kill by Martin. ECU went on to clinch the stanza by six points to grab an early lead in the match.

Set Two: For the second-straight set, the Pirates rang up a 7-3 advantage and forced an early Tiger timeout. ECU kept the pressure on, scoring seven of the next nine points to roll to a huge edge at 14-5. Memphis rallied late in the frame, but a Ceriani kill gave the Purple and Gold the set by five points and a 2-0 match lead at intermission.

Set Three: A kill by Mares made it 7-2 in favor of the Pirates early in the third set before the Tigers drew within 12-8. A 6-1 run by ECU would put the match away as a Memphis service error brought the Pirates to match point at 24-15. The Tigers scored five straight before Ceriani scored the final point of the evening with a kill to seal the sweep.

News and Notes

The .358 hitting percentage is the highest ever for ECU in an American Athletic Conference match.
The Pirates improved to 7-20 all-time against Memphis and have won three of the last four meetings on the Tigers' home floor.
ECU is off to its best start in league play as a member of the American Athletic Conference, winning seven of its first nine contests. The Pirates are also 4-1 on the road in conference matches this season.
Head coach Julie Torbett needs just two more victories to become the winningest head coach in program history.
ECU moved to 5-1 in true road matches in 2017.

Up Next: ECU closes the weekend out Sunday with an American Conference match at No. 21 Wichita State. First serve from Koch Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET