Gameday: ECU Battles USF And No. 22 UCF In Florida

Matches 25-26: at USF and No. 22 UCF
The Matches	Nov. 9 at USF \\\ 5:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ No Video Stream Nov. 11 at No. 22 UCF \\\ 1:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch
Venues	The Corral \\\ The Venue at UCF
Information	2018 Fact Book \\\ 2018 Prospectus \\\ Match Notes
Social Media	@ECUVB (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ Facebook \\\ #WeUp

GREENVILLE, N.C. – With the regular season winding down, ECU makes its way to Florida for a pair of American Athletic Conference matches at USF and No. 22 UCF.

The Pirates hosted Tulsa and Wichita State last weekend, falling to both teams in four sets. ECU looks for its first victory since knocking off Temple 3-1 in Philadelphia back on Oct. 7. The Pirates are 12-12 overall and 4-9 in AAC play, tied with Connecticut and Memphis in the league standings.

Sophomore outside hitter Sydney Kleinman leads the offense with a 2.68 kills per set average while sophomore right side Bri Wood boasts the most kills (200) on the squad and is the team's leading scorer with 230 points. Junior defensive specialist Maggie Hallow, who collected a career-high 24 digs against Tulsa last Friday, ranks eighth in the conference with an average of 4.30 digs per set.

ECU is 2-4 on the road in league action with wins at Connecticut and Temple as well as losses at Wichita State, Tulsa, Tulane and Memphis.

Last Time Out
GREENVILLE, N.C. – ECU managed more kills that Wichita State but 31 attacking errors hindered the Pirates' effort in a 3-1 (17-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-22) loss to the Shockers inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. Sophomore right side Bri Wood led all players with 17 kills while sophomore outside hitter Sydney Kleinman and freshman Natalie Tyson recorded 14 and 10 apiece. Wood posted 18 digs for a double-double and sophomore setter Shelby Martin racked up 38 assists and 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Redshirt freshman middle blocker Sydney Hall collected five blocks. Alex Koon paced Wichita with 12 kills. ECU held the Shockers to a .168 hitting percentage but the 31 errors kept the Pirates to a .146 mark. The home team out-dug the visitors 74-58 while Wichita piled up 11 total blocks to ECU's nine.

Looking At USF
USF is 18-8 overall and 7-6 in AAC play, most recently losing in four sets to Connecticut in Storrs. The Bulls were without leading scorer Jac'cara Walker in the setback to the Huskies. Walker currently leads the team and ranks fifth in the AAC in kills per set with a 3.46 average while CC Clausen is seventh in the conference defensively at 4.33 digs per set. Collectively, USF ranks third in the league in both hitting percentage (.230) and blocks per set (2.23). The Bulls are 3-4 at home in conference play, defeating Temple, SMU and Houston while falling to UCF, Wichita State, Tulsa and Connecticut.

Scouting UCF
UCF is enjoying a historic season, entering an important home clash with Cincinnati Friday night at 22-3 overall and 13-0 in AAC play. The Knights can clinch a share of their second American Athletic Conference regular season title with two wins this weekend. UCF has continued to climb in the national polls, checking in at No. 22 in this week's AVCA top 25 listing. The play of freshman outside hitter McKenna Melville has propelled the Knights this year as she is second in the conference in kills per set (4.51). Senior libero Jordan Pingel has provided stability in the back row, ranking fifth in the league in digs per set (5.10). As a team, UCF paces the AAC in kills per set (13.94), assists per set (13.23) and blocks per set (2.70). The Knights are 12-0 inside The Venue at UCF this season, including conference wins over Tulsa (3-1), Wichita State (3-1), Temple (3-1), Connecticut (3-1), Houston (3-2) and SMU (3-1).

The Series: USF
USF picked up a 3-1 win over ECU in Greenville earlier this season to take a 9-4 lead in the all-time series. The Pirates defeated the Bulls in four sets in Tampa last season and are 2-4 against USF in The Corral.

The Series: UCF
UCF downed ECU in three sets in Minges Coliseum a couple of weeks ago and leads the all-time series over the Pirates 16-10. After dropping a five-set tussle to the Knights in Orlando last year, ECU is 4-9 against UCF in road matches.

Up Next
The Pirates return to Greenville next weekend for their final two home matches of the season against Memphis and Tulane.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Hall

Maggie Hallow

Sydney Kleinman

Shelby Martin

Natalie Tyson

Bri Wood

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