Volleyball Snags 3-1 American Conference Road Win At USF

Sunday, September 24

Tampa, Fla.

Noon

East Carolina University

9-5, 1-1

USF

4-7, 0-2

ECU

USF

Volleyball Snags 3-1 American Conference Road Win At USF

September 24, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

TAMPA, Fla. – The ECU volleyball recorded its first win over USF in Tampa since 2004 Sunday afternoon, defeating the Bulls in four sets (18-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18) inside The Corral.

The senior duo of Natalie Montini and Ashton Mares led all players with 17 kills apiece – a career high for Montini. Mares also notched 14 digs for her third double-double of the campaign. Defensively, sophomore libero Brandee Markwith collected a match-high 24 digs. Reagan Davey paced USF with 13 kills while Maria McLamb racked up 23 digs.

After hitting just .000 in the first set, the Pirates rebounded with .242, .295 and .366 showings in the final three frames to end up with a .225 hitting percentage. Conversely, the Bulls fired at a .270 clip. ECU ended up with a 72-71 edge in digs, the 9.0-7.0 upper hand in total blocks and 59-57 advantage in kills.

Team Records: ECU (9-5, 1-1 AAC) | USF (4-7, 0-2 AAC)

Torbett's Take: "Our senior leadership by Natalie and Ashton really pulled us through today. I am extremely proud of how we battled after a tough start. We started to make some adjustments, especially in the back row. We haven't won here very often so it's a great feeling leaving here victorious."

Set One: USF burst out of the gates quickly, building a 9-3 advantage and forcing an early ECU timeout. The lead grew to 19-12 on a Reagan Davey kill before the Pirates rallied to within 22-17. The Bulls would score three of the last four points to capture the first stanza.

Set Two: The second frame was a point for point battle early, but ECU got its block going and moved in front 14-10 to prompt a USF timeout. The Bulls answered out of the break, scoring eight of the next 10 points to take an 18-16 edge. The Pirates were able to rally, eventually going ahead 23-21 on a Mares ace. A block by Ceriani and Montini put the Purple and Gold at set point, 24-22, and Ceriani finished it off with a kill to give ECU the set by two points and even the match at the intermission.

Set Three: The Pirates fell behind early at 12-5 but slowly chipped away at the deficit. A Ceriani kill eventually knotted the score at 17 before sophomore defensive specialist Maggie Hallow recorded an ace off a nice serve to put ECU ahead 20-18. The Purple and Gold eventually fended off the home side by two to grab the match lead.

Set Four: The Pirates grabbed a 5-3 advantage off of a kill by Montini and did not relinquish control the rest of the way. A Mares kill eventually pushed ECU ahead 17-11 and the Pirates finished it off on a thunderous Montini kill that she crushed down the line.

News and Notes

ECU improved to 3-8 all-time against USF and picked up its second-ever win over the Bulls in Tampa.
The Pirates out-blocked an opponent for the 10th time in 14 matches.
ECU has hit over .200 in its first two AAC matches of the season.
Head coach Julie Torbett needs just eight victories to surpass Alita Dillon as the winningest head coach in program history.

Up Next: ECU returns home next weekend for a pair of league matches against SMU (Sept. 29) and Tulsa (Oct. 1).