Volleyball Sweeps William & Mary To Open ECU Invitational

Friday, August 25

Greenville, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

1-0

William & Mary

0-1

William & Mary

ECU

Photo by: Rob Goldberg

Volleyball Sweeps William & Mary To Open ECU Invitational

August 25, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

GREENVILLE, N.C. – A consistent offensive performance all around lifted the ECU volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-19) victory over William & Mary Friday night in the second match of the ECU Invitational inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. Georgia State defeated Rutgers 3-1 in the first contest of the tournament.

Senior outside hitter Lael Ceriani posted a match-high 15 kills on 30 attempts with just four errors to record a .367 hitting percentage while freshman right side Bri Wood tallied nine kills and hit .273 in her first collegiate match. Sophomore libero Brandee Markwith paced the defensive effort with 12 digs and freshman setter Shelby Martin notched 26 assists in her debut. Casey Foote and Sydney Biniak led their team with nine kills apiece.

The Pirates hit at least .222 in every set, including a .400 showing in the third stanza, finishing with a .305 hitting percentage. ECU limited the Tribe to .000 in the third set as William and Mary ended up at .165 for the match. The Tribe out-dug the Pirates 42-29 but ECU had 20 more total attempts and out-blocked William and Mary 5.0 to 3.0.

Team Records: ECU (1-0) | William & Mary (0-1)

Torbett's Take: "I was really pleased with our passing tonight and that allowed us to run an efficient offense. It was great to see us limit our hitting errors but we need to work on serving the ball in the court. Our freshmen stepped up in a big way tonight in front of a big crowd. We look forward to a pair of tough matches with Georgia State and Rutgers tomorrow."

Set 1: ECU forced William and Mary into a quick timeout after building an 8-3 advantage. The Tribe pulled within 10-8 later in the frame, but the Pirates pushed ahead 17-11 and ended the stanza on a Ceriani kill.

Set 2: The teams fought to a tie at eight points apiece before William and Mary took an 11-10 lead when Foote put the ball down. With the Tribe leading 12-11, the Purple and Gold ripped off an 8-2 run capped by a Madison Clark kill to put the set out of reach.

Set 3: The final frame was all ECU early as a William and Mary hitting error saw the Pirates assume a 12-6 advantage. ECU built a lead as big as six points and did not allow the Tribe to come any closer than four the rest of the way.

News and Notes

ECU improved to 4-1 in season openers under head coach Julie Torbett
Torbett needs just six more wins to reach 400 for her career and 16 to become the winningest head coach in program history.
The Pirates won their 12th-straight non-conference match and raised its record to 37-14 in non-league affairs since 2013.
ECU improved to 13-2 in its last 15 matches when winning the first set.

Up Next: The Pirates will play a pair of matches Saturday to close out the ECU Invitational, taking on Georgia State at 10 a.m. and Rutgers at 7 p.m. Admission to all matches Saturday is free of charge in conjunction with the "Meet the Pirates" event held from 5-7 p.m. at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.