Volleyball Secures 20th Win In Comeback Fashion At Houston

Friday, November 17

Houston, Texas

8:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

20-10, 11-6American

Houston

10-15, 6-11American

ECU

Houston

Photo by: Rob Goldberg

Volleyball Secures 20th Win In Comeback Fashion At Houston

November 17, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

HOUSTON, Texas – Down two sets to none at the intermission Friday night, ECU put together a stirring rally and came away with a 3-2 (13-25, 16-25, 25-23, 26-24, 15-10) American Athletic Conference volleyball victory at Houston inside the Athletics/Alumni Center.

The win ensures the first 20-victory season for the Pirates since 2005 and the fourth overall in program history.

Team Records: ECU (20-10, 11-6 AAC) | Houston (10-15, 6-11 AAC)

ECU posted a season-high 15.0 blocks in the contest to offset a campaign-best 15 aces by Houston. After the Cougars hit .600 in the opening set, the Pirates clamped down and actually out-hit Houston .189 to .185 overall. ECU also out-dug one of the top defensive teams in the conference 91-84.

Senior middle Natalie Montini and senior outside Ashton Mares notched 14 kills apiece while freshman outside Kaiya Heyliger-Powell recorded a career-best six kills. Mares posted her team-best ninth double-double by adding 13 digs. Both of the Pirates' setters produced double-doubles as freshman Shelby Martin tallied 23 assists and 11 digs while junior Madison Clark ended with 18 assists and 10 digs. Clark also came up with three aces, four blocks and two kills.

Defensively, sophomore libero Brandee Markwith became the 12th player in program history to surpass the 1,000-dig plateau, racking up a match-high 28 to up her career total to 1,016. She also set the single-season program record as she now has 568 – two more than Erika Figueroa in 2015.

Torbett's Take: "A 20-win season is just really special and important in the process of building this program. We had so many people on the team step up tonight and I couldn't be more proud of them for that. This is a really tough place to play, but we were able to rally and earn a hard-fought win."

Set One: Houston raced out to a 9-2 lead and did not let up the rest of the way. A kill by Silvia Pertens ended the frame to give the homestanding Cougars an early advantage in the match. Houston hit .600 in the frame.

Set Two: The second set was closer at the beginning as the teams fought to a tie at eight points apiece. UH began to pull away, however, using a Silvia Pertens kill to spark a 6-0 run that gave the home side a six-point advantage. The Cougars kept the pressure on and eventually captured the stanza to grab a 2-0 match lead at intermission.

Set Three: The Purple and Gold came out of the locker room with purpose, building an 11-6 edge after a solo block by Montini. ECU maintained the five-point edge all the way to 17-12 before Houston began to rally. A service ace by Gardner knotted the score at 21, but the Pirates captured four of the last six points to stay alive in the match.

Set Four: ECU quickly fell behind 6-1, but answered with a 9-4 run that tied the score at 10. The Pirates broke open a 14-14 tie by scoring four of the next five points to push in front 18-15. The Cougars mustered up a 5-2 run to forge a deadlock at 20 and the teams battled to another tie at 23. Heyliger-Powell put down a kill to give ECU set point before the Pirates clinched the stanza on a block by Osuegbu and Mares.

Set Five: With all the momentum on its side, ECU raced out to a 5-2 lead in the deciding set before Houston pulled within 5-4 after a Pirate attacking error. Unfazed, the Purple and Gold stretched the lead to 10-5, forcing the Cougars to call for time following a Mares kill. Houston rallied one last time, slicing the ECU cushion to 12-10, but a Mares kill and two big Pirate blocks, including one on match point, sealed the comeback victory.

News and Notes

ECU secured a winning record in American Athletic Conference play for the first time since joining the league.
The Pirates have won four straight in the series against Houston.
ECU improved to 7-4 in true road matches.
The Pirates are now 19-0 this season when out-hitting their opponent.
ECU has swept the season series from three conference foes in 2017 (Memphis, USF and Houston).

Up Next: ECU heads to Tulane for a Sunday match inside Devlin Fieldhouse at 1 p.m. ET