Gameday: ECU Welcomes UCF And USF To Greenville

Matches 19-20: UCF and USF
The Match	Oct. 19 vs. UCF \\\ 7:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Oct. 21 vs. USF \\\ Noon \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch
Venue	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum \\\ Ticket Information
Information	2018 Fact Book \\\ 2018 Prospectus \\\ Match Notes
Social Media	@ECUVB (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ Facebook \\\ #WeUp

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Looking to keep pace in the top half of the American Athletic Conference standings, ECU hosts co-league leader UCF and USF this weekend inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

As the East Carolina University campus celebrates Homecoming, the Pirates will recognize its alumni at intermission of Friday's contest against the Knights. ECU will also hold its annual "pink match" Sunday in an ongoing effort to raise awareness of breast cancer.

ECU dropped a 3-0 decision to defending conference champion Wichita State before falling in four sets to Tulsa in their most recent pair of matches. The Pirates hold an overall record of 12-6 and are tied with the Shockers for fourth place in the AAC standings with a 4-3 league mark.

Sophomore outside hitter Sydney Kleinman is averaging a team-best 2.51 kills per set and is one of four players putting up at least 2.28. Junior defensive specialist Maggie Hallow leads the defensive efforts with 262 digs, good for an average of 4.23 per set. ECU is limiting opposing offenses to a .176 hitting percentage which is tied for the second-best mark in the conference and 64th nationally. ECU is 5-2 at home this season with AAC victories against Houston and SMU.

Last Time Out
TULSA, Okla. - ECU ended its four-match road swing with a 3-1 (11-25, 19-25, 25-23, 19-25) American Athletic Conference loss to Tulsa Sunday afternoon inside the Reynolds Center. The Pirates (12-6, 4-3 AAC) hit .050 in the match, committing 32 attacking errors, while the Golden Hurricane (13-6, 5-2 AAC) ended up at .218 with 49 kills on 142 attempts. ECU out-dug Tulsa 64-62 and the teams combined for 13 total blocks. Kleinman led the Pirates with nine kills to go along with 16 digs while Hallow tied for the match high with 17 digs. Sydney Hall also notched a career-high eight kills. Maggie Hembree paced the Golden Hurricane with 11 kills and Rachel Moore recorded a double-double of 10 kills and 13 digs..

About UCF
UCF rolls into Greenville with a 16-3 overall record, 7-0 American Athletic Conference mark and a 13-match winning streak after defeating Temple and Connecticut both in four sets last weekend in Orlando. The Knights are No. 13 in the NCAA RPI ranking this week, boasting victories over USC and defending AAC champion Wichita State. Freshman outside hitter McKenna Melville leads the UCF offense with 294 kills, ranking second in the conference with an average of 4.20 kills per set. In terms of defense, senior libero Jordan Pingel checks in with a team-best 338 digs and is fifth in the AAC at 4.83 per set. Pingel has won league defensive player of the week honors the last two weeks. The Knights are first in the conference in kills per set and assists per set while raking second in hitting percentage and blocks per set.

Scouting USF
USF is in a four-way tie with Tulane, Connecticut and SMU for sixth place in the AAC standings, sitting at 14-6 overall and 3-4 in conference play entering their Friday night contest at co-league leader Cincinnati. The Bulls played a pair of five-set matches at home last weekend, falling to Connecticut before rallying from two sets down to best Temple. Jac'cara Walker, a junior outside hitter transfer from Marshall, paces the offensive efforts for USF with 241 kills (3.21 per set) - good for sixth among league players. Freshman libero CC Clausen has racked up a squad-high 395 digs and is sixth in the conference with an average of 4.82 per set. The Bulls are putting up 16.67 digs per set as a team, a mark that is third in the American Conference statistical ranks.

The Series: UCF
UCF leads the all-time series with ECU by a 15-10 count. The teams played a pair of entertaining matches in 2017 as the Knights came out on top 3-2 in Orlando before the Pirates returned the favor with four-set victory in Greenville. ECU owns a 6-5 record against UCF in contests played inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

The Series: USF
USF has won eight of 12 meetings with ECU, but the Pirates swept the season series in 2017 with a pair of 3-1 victories in Tampa and Greenville. ECU holds a 2-4 record against the Bulls inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

Up Next
The Pirates will play their fifth road match of the month when they travel to Tulane Oct. 26 for an American Conference matchup at 8 p.m. ECU wraps up the quick two-contest road trip at Memphis Sunday at 2 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Hall

Maggie Hallow

Sydney Kleinman

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