Volleyball Earns Key 3-1 Road Win At Connecticut

Sunday, October 8

Storrs, Conn.

Noon

East Carolina University

12-6,4-2AAC

Connecticut

9-9,2-4AAC

ECU

UConn

Photo by: Rob Goldberg

October 08, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

STORRS, Conn. – After knocking off Temple Friday in Philadelphia, the ECU volleyball team followed it up with a workman-like 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-20) American Athletic Conference victory over Connecticut inside Guyer Gym.

Team Records: ECU (12-6, 4-2 AAC) | Connecticut (9-9, 2-4 AAC)

The senior trio of Natalie Montini, Ashton Mares and Lael Ceriani recorded 12 kills each while freshman right side Bri Wood chipped in with 11. Montini committed just two attacking errors to end up with a .476 hitting percentage. Defensively, sophomore libero Brandee Markwith collected a team-high 15 digs and sophomore middle hitter Toya Osuegbu racked up eight total blocks. Additionally, freshman setter Shelby Martin recorded 42 assists, eight digs and four kills. Kayla Williams led the Huskies with 20 kills while Kennedy Arundel paced all players with 19 digs.

Following a .000 performance in the hitting department in set one, ECU responded with .387, .415 and .346 showings in the final three stanzas to end up at .281. Connecticut tallied 60 kills but committed 29 attacking errors to finish with a .203 hitting percentage. The Huskies also held the upper hand in digs at 55-47, however, the Pirates came up with seven blocks in the fourth frame to bring their match total to 11.0.

Torbett's Take: "We definitely had to work for this win but I am proud of the way we responded after the first set. Connecticut had a great game plan and deserves a lot of credit for that. It's great to be heading home with two road wins in two tough places to play."

Set One: Connecticut scored the first three points of the match but ECU answered with six straight to grab a three-point advantage. The Pirates later led 18-14, but the Huskies ended the set on an 11-2 run to win it by five and grab early control of the day.

Set Two: ECU asserted itself early in the second frame, establishing a 12-9 cushion on a kill by Ceriani. The Pirates were on the brink as the set wore down, leading 23-19. However, UConn mustered four straight to knot the score. The Purple and Gold survived the rally, using a kill by Mares and benefitting from a Husky attacking error to capture the stanza by two.

Set Three: The Pirates broke free in the third set, going up 12-7 on a Ceriani kill. UConn never really threatened the rest of the set as ECU won the frame by eight to grab a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set Four: The Pirates looked to pull away early in the fourth stanza, using three blocks to build a 7-2 cushion. The Huskies rallied back to claim a 12-11 advantage but ECU did not panic, answering with a 9-4 run to reach 20 points and lead by four. That would be plenty for the Pirates to claim the win as an attacking error proved the final play of the match.

News and Notes

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.

Up Next: ECU returns home next weekend, hosting Tulane (Friday) and Houston (Sunday).