Gameday: Volleyball Embarks On Final Road Trip Of Regular Season

Matches 30-31: at Houston and Tulane
The Matches	Nov. 17: at Houston \\\ 8 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video Nov. 19: at Tulane \\\ 1 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video
Venue	A thletics/Alumni Center \\\ D evlin Fieldhouse
Social Media	@ECUVB (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ Facebook \\\ @ECUScoreboard (In-Match Updates) \\\ #ECUndaunted

Weekly Release No. 13 (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Having secured double-digit American Athletic Conference victories for the first time ever, the ECU volleyball team embarks on its final road swing of the regular season this weekend by visiting Houston and Tulane.

"This is the last road trip for our seniors and it is an opportunity for them to spend a lot of time together," head coach Julie Torbett said. "We are shooting for something really important. A 20-win season would be monumental for the program. It has only been done here three times. I really believe in this team and what we can accomplish the rest of the way."

The Pirates enter the weekend with a 10-6 league record and in sole possession of fourth place in the AAC standings. ECU most recently split a pair of home matches, falling 3-0 to No. 20 Wichita State before rebounding with a three-set win over Memphis.

The Cougars split with USF and UCF on the road over the weekend, picking up a sweep of the Bulls in Tampa while dropping a 3-0 decision to the Knights in Orlando. The Green Wave went winless against both opponents, falling in three at UCF and taking a four-set loss at USF.

ECU topped both Tulane (3-2) and Houston (3-1) in Greenville back in October.

Looking at Houston
Houston is 10-14 overall and 6-10 in American Athletic Conference play entering the weekend, sitting in a tie for eighth place with USF. Megan Duncan has been the top statistical offensive performer for the Cougars, averaging 2.83 kills per set and is one of the more accurate Houston attackers with a .222 hitting percentage. Defensively, Katie Karbo is putting up 5.37 digs per set while Brianna Gardner sports a team-best 0.89 blocks per set average. As a team, the Cougars are averaging 13.04 kills, 12.18 assists, 1.53 aces, 17.15 digs and 1.88 blocks per set while hitting .176. Houston tops the AAC in aces per set while ranking third in digs per set. The Cougars own a 7-5 home record that includes a 4-4 mark against league opponents.

The Series: Houston
ECU has won three-straight meetings with Houston to cut the Cougars' lead in the all-time series to 16-6. The Pirates are 2-7 in Houston, sweeping the Cougars last season at the Athletics/Alumni Center.

Scouting Tulane
Tulane gets set for its Friday night contest with Cincinnati holding a 13-16 overall record and 2-14 conference mark - tied with Memphis for 11th place in the AAC standings. Dayna Kern paces four Green Wave players who average at least 2.03 kills per set with a 2.27 average and a .278 hitting percentage. Kaylie McHugh anchors the back row to the tune of 4.71 digs per set while Kern is blocking at a 0.80 per set clip. Collectively, Tulane averages 12.80 kills, 12.33 assists, 1.39 aces, 15.27 digs and 1.73 blocks per set to go along with a .192 hitting percentage. The Green Wave are second in the league in aces per set.

The Series: Tulane
Thanks to a five-set win over Tulane earlier this season in Greenville, ECU sliced the Green Wave's series advantage to 17-5. The Pirates have captured four of the last six meetings, including a 3-1 victory in New Orleans last season that marked ECU's first-ever win on Tulane's home court.

News And Notes
The Pirates completed their second season series sweep of an AAC opponent this season (Memphis and USF) … ECU has won 10 matches in conference play for the first time since 2006. The Pirates also doubled last season's victory total in the league after only winning five AAC contests in 2016 … The three-set triumph marked the first time ECU has recorded two sweeps over the same American Conference opponent in a single season … Mares tied Stephanie Turner for 10th on the program career chart with 1,016 digs. Mares is just 36 kills away from becoming the fifth player in school history to notch 1,000 career kills and digs. She is also ninth on the career list for kills at 964 … Markwith increased her career digs total to 988, just 12 away from becoming the 12th member of the ECU 1,000-dig club … The 2017 squad is now 10th in program history in single-season assists (1,311) and block assists (356) … The Pirates need just one victory to notch their first 20-win season since 2005.

ECU At-A-Glance
Record - 19-10 (.665) // AAC Record - 10-6 (.625) // Last 5 Matches - 4-1 (.800) // Last 10 Matches - 6-4 (.600) // Last 15 Matches - 10-5 (.667) // ECU will play the 154th match of the Julie Torbett era when it meets Houston Friday night // The program's all-time record stands at 496-779 in its 41st season of competition.

Up Next
The Purple and Gold wraps up the regular season next week with a home-and-home series against Cincinnati. ECU will face the Bearcats on the road Nov. 22 before hosting Cincinnati two days later inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum for the Pirates' Senior Day.

Gameday: Volleyball Embarks On Final Road Trip Of Regular Season

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