ECU Falls To Cincinnati In American Athletic Conference Opener

Friday, September 21

Greenville, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

7-4, 0-1AAC

Cincinnati

10-4, 1-0AAC

Cincinnati

ECU

ECU Falls To Cincinnati In American Athletic Conference Opener

September 21, 2018 | Volleyball

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GREENVILLE, N.C. – ECU dropped its American Athletic Conference opener to Cincinnati Friday night, falling to the Bearcats 3-0 (9-25, 15-25, 21-25) inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

Cincinnati (10-4, 1-0 AAC) had three players reach double figures in kills, led by Carly Nolan who had 19. Jordan Thompson and Erica Kostelac followed with 18 and 13 respectively. All three of those Bearcat players recorded double-doubles with 10 digs apiece. Junior middle blocker Toya Osuegbu paced the Pirates (7-4, 0-1 AAC) with six kills and four blocks while junior libero Maggie Hallow collected 12 digs.

Cincinnati hit .417 in the match on the strength of 53 kills and held ECU to a .126 percentage with 23 kills. The Bearcats also held the upper hand in digs (46-36), but the Pirates ended up with one more total block (4.0-3.0).

ECU scored the first two points of the match thanks to a kill by Osuegbu and block by Osuegbu and sophomore outside hitter Sydney Kleinman. However, Cincinnati scored 12-straight points after the opening sequence and rolled to the first-set victory.

The Pirates kept the second frame close at the start, trailing just 7-5 after a Bearcat service error. Cincinnati started to pull away from there, extending the lead to 18-10 before sealing the set by 10 points and taking a 2-0 match advantage at the intermission.

The third stanza was the most competitive of the evening. The Bearcats called for time when an attacking error by Nolan pulled ECU within 12-11. The Pirates could not quite catch up, however, falling in the final set by four points.

ECU continues its homestand Tuesday with a non-conference matchup with N.C. Central. First serve is set for 4 p.m.

Hurricane Florence Relief Effort: In order to help those affected by the devastation of Hurricane Florence, ECU Athletics will take part in East Carolina Undaunted's Hurricane Florence Food Drive. As part of East Carolina Undaunted's Hurricane Florence Food Drive, which was created by East Carolina University, ECU Athletics will be collecting items at each home event next week. Items will be collected for the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. Water and beverages are currently the items most in need, but a full list of approved items can be found here (PDF). Fans who attend either of the soccer matches in Johnson Stadium or any of the three volleyball matches in Minges Coliseum next week will receive free admission with each donated item.