Volleyball Falls 3-0 At SMU

Saturday, October 28

Dallas, Texas

2:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

15-9, 7-5AAC

SMU

16-7, 10-2-AAC

ECU

SMU

October 28, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

DALLAS, Texas – The ECU volleyball team finished off its four-match American Athletic Conference road trip with a 3-0 (19-25, 24-26, 17-25) setback to SMU Saturday afternoon inside Moody Coliseum.

Team Records: ECU (15-9, 7-5 AAC) | SMU (16-7, 10-2 AAC)

Senior middle hitter Natalie Montini led the Pirate offense with 14 kills and a .333 hitting percentage while sophomore libero Brandee Markwith paced all players in the match with 22 digs. Brittany Adams put down 16 kills to lead the second-place Mustangs.

SMU put down 42 kills and committed just 13 errors to hit .230 while ECU racked up 41 kills but made 19 errors to finish with a .168 mark. The Mustangs out-blocked the Pirates 7.0 to 6.0 and had the upper hand in digs, 65-63.

Set One: The Pirates maintained the lead through much of the early part of the opening stanza, leading 16-13 after a kill by Mares. ECU could not hold off SMU, however, as the Mustangs ended the set on a 12-3 run.

Set Two: SMU jumped ahead 7-3 in the second frame and extended its lead to 13-9. After a Pirate timeout, a kill by Montini sparked a 7-2 run that put ECU ahead 16-15. Another kill by Montini later gave the Pirates set point at 24-23, but the Purple and Gold was unable to finish it off as the Mustangs scored three straight to claim the set.

Set Three: SMU built an 8-3 advantage and quickly stretched it to 11-5. ECU rallied within 12-8 but that was as close as the Pirates would come the rest of the way.

News and Notes

The Pirates dropped to 4-14 all-time against SMU as the Mustangs have now won the last 13 meetings.
ECU fell to 5-4 in true road contests in 2017.
The Pirates hit under .200 for the first time in eight matches.
ECU was out-blocked for the second consecutive contest.

Up Next: The Pirates return to the court 6 p.m. Tuesday at N.C. Central.