ECU Opens Season With Two Sweeps

Friday, August 24

Hattiesburg, Miss.

Noon

East Carolina University

1-0

Spring Hill College

0-1

Spring Hill

ECU

August 24, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 ECU-Spring Hill Box Score (PDF)ECU-Alcorn State Box Score (PDF)

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – After a banner season in 2017, the ECU volleyball team picked up right where it left off Friday with a pair of 3-0 wins over Spring Hill College and Alcorn State at the Southern Miss Classic Friday inside Reed Green Coliseum. The Pirates first victory of the day proved to be the program's 500th win.

"It was nice to sweep both matches today," head coach Julie Torbett said. "We have nine new players on the team so it will take some time to figure out a lineup and let it gel. I was really encouraged by our younger players, especially Natalie Tyson on the outside. Our back row was pretty solid as well. We were able to play a lot of people in different game situations today so that will benefit us going forward."

ECU 3, Spring Hill College 0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-20)
After a slow start in the opening set, the Pirates won the final two with relative ease to emerge victorious of NCAA Division II member Spring Hill College. The Badgers were 27-5 last season and return a solid nucleus of talent from that squad for this year.

ECU was led by sophomore Bri Wood who recorded her first double-double of the season to the tune of 14 kills and 10 digs while also posting a .375 hitting percentage, two blocks and a service ace. Sophomore Sydney Kleinman racked up 10 kills, seven digs, two blocks and an ace in her Pirate debut. Defensively, junior libero Maggie Hallow led the way with 16 digs and freshman middle blocker S'mara Riley tallied six kills, four blocks and a .500 hitting percentage in her first collegiate match. Bentley Odom paced Spring Hill with 10 kills and a .353 hitting percentage while Cassidi Sterrett collected 14 digs.

The Purple and Gold hit .316 as a team, including .355 and .410 in the final two sets, and out-dug the Badgers 52-45 as a well as enjoying an 8-5 advantage in total blocks. Spring Hill hit .226 as a team on the strength of 42 kills as compared to the Pirates' 49-kill total.

ECU jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the first set after a service ace from Wood. The Badgers then stormed back with an 11-3 run to vault in front 16-12 and force a Pirate timeout. Spring Hill grew its advantage all the way to 20-14 before ECU put together a rally. A solo block by junior Toya Osuegbu capped a 9-3 run and knotted the score at 23 and sophomore Shelby Martin notched an ace to push the Pirates to set point. Sarah Senft kept her team alive with a kill, but sophomore Kaiya Heyliger-Powell found the floor with consecutive kills to give ECU the set by two.

The Pirates sprinted out to an 11-2 lead in the second frame, but the Badgers chipped away and rallied within 18-16 later in the set. A kill by Riley and a block off the hands of Martin and Osuegbu extended the ECU cushion to 20-16 and the Pirates were able to fend off Spring Hill the rest of the way.

The final stanza was nip and tuck for a majority and the score eventually settled at 19-19. Kills by Wood and Riley, as well as a Badger attacking error, gave ECU some breathing room at 22-19 and that would be all the Purple and Gold needed to win the set by five and clinch the sweep.

ECU 3, Alcorn State 0 (25-14, 25-8, 25-12)
The Pirates left little doubt in the nightcap of opening day, breezing to a three-set victory over Alcorn State.

Tyson reached double figures for the first time in her young collegiate career, putting down 10 kills with just one error for a .409 hitting percentage. She also recorded four digs and two aces. Osuegbu notched seven kills and did not commit an attacking error in 14 attempts to finish with a .500 hitting mark. In the back row, Hallow snatched a match-high 17 digs. Sydney Joseph led the Lady Braves with six kills while Kaylyn Latin ended up with a team-high 10 digs.

ECU out-hit Alcorn State .218 to -.057 while also holding the upper hand in kills (32-17), digs (46-38) and blocks (4.0-3.0).

A Riley kill made the score 9-4 in favor of the Pirates in set one and forced an early Lady Brave timeout. ECU began to pull away later in the frame, taking a 15-9 lead on a kill by Osuegbu. Alcorn State was never able to catch up as an attacking error gave the Pirates the stanza by 11 points.

The Purple and Gold scored six of the first seven points of the second set and left the Lady Braves in the rear view mirror, extending the advantage all the way to 18-8 before ending things on a 7-0 run to limit Alcorn State to single-digit points.

Using a bevy of new faces in the third frame, ECU fell behind 8-6 but was able to recover and take an 11-8 edge after a Lady Brave bad set. The Pirates allowed Alcorn State just four points the rest of the way, eventually putting the Lady Braves away for good when Jasmine Chambers sent an attack long to end the match.

Up Next: ECU closes out the Southern Miss Classic Saturday evening at 8 p.m. (ET) when it takes on the host Golden Eagles.