Volleyball Knocks Off Temple In Philadelphia, 3-1

Friday, October 6

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

11-6, 3-2AAC

Temple

7-6, 3-2AAC

ECU

Temple

October 06, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Cross another one off the list. An impressive all-around effort lifted ECU past Temple 3-1 (25-17, 19-25, 25-19, 25-15) in an American Athletic Conference volleyball matchup Friday night inside McGonigle Hall.

In two consecutive matches, the Pirates have defeated Tulsa and Temple – a pair of teams they had not beaten since joining the American Conference. The victory was also the first ever for ECU over the Owls in program history.

Freshman right side Bri Wood put down a career-high 18 kills and hit .366 while senior outside hitter Lael Ceriani notched 14 kills and 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the campaign. Senior outside hitter Ashton Mares chipped in with nine kills and 19 digs and sophomore libero Brandee Markwith led all players with 21 digs. Izzy Rapacz paced Temple with 18 kills and 14 digs.

The Pirates out-did Temple in virtually every category, notching more kills (55-51), assists (50-43), digs (74-65) and blocks (8.0-4.0). ECU also out-hit the home side .259 to .177.

Team Records: ECU (11-6, 3-2 AAC) | Temple (7-6, 3-2 AAC)

Torbett's Take: "I am unbelievably proud of the team tonight. Our senior leadership continues to shine through and our younger players are well on the way to taking this program to new heights. I really love this group because they are resilient and conduct themselves in a no-nonsense manner."

Set One: ECU got off to a nice start in the first stanza, establishing an 8-3 advantage after a block by freshman setter Shelby Martin and senior middle hitter Natalie Montini. With the Pirates later leading 15-9, Temple put together a 4-0 run to pull within two. The Purple and Gold were able to keep the Owls at an arm's length the rest of the way, winning the frame by eight points.

Set Two: Temple held a 9-6 lead through the first 15 points of the second stanza, but the Pirates would cut the advantage to two at 16-14 on a kill by Ceriani. The Owls eventually pulled away, capturing the set by six points and tying the match at the intermission.

Set Three: A nice cross-court kill by Ceriani afforded ECU an 11-5 lead in the third. After a Temple timeout, the Owls were able to rally within 12-10 but Wood restored order with a kill to put the Pirate advantage back at three. The home side kept it interesting, trailing the Pirates 18-16 after a kill by Iva Deak, but the Purple and Gold won seven of the last 10 points to win the stanza and grab a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set Four: Two kills by Wood gave ECU an early 3-1 lead and the Pirates kept the advantage on their side later going up 8-5. Temple drew within 10-9 on a Rapacz kill, however, ECU put the match away with a 6-2 run that extended the cushion to 16-11. Despite the Owls' best efforts on defense, the Pirates absolutely rolled to the 10-point margin of victory and sealed the match.

News and Notes

Montini moved into the program career top 10 in total blocks with 279 stuffs.
ECU is off to its best start in league play as a member of the American Athletic Conference, winning three of its first five contests including two away from home.
Temple entered the match as the top blocking team in the league but the Pirates held the Owls well under their 2.69 per set average.
Head coach Julie Torbett needs just six more victories to become the winningest head coach in program history.
ECU has out-blocked six-straight opponents and nine of the last 11.

Up Next: ECU closes the weekend Sunday with an American Athletic Conference match at Connecticut. First serve is set for Noon inside Guyer Gym.