Gameday: Surging East Carolina Hosts N.C. Central Tuesday Evening

Match 10: N.C. Central
The Match	Sept. 17 vs. N.C. Central \\\ 6:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch (Free)
Venue	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (Greenville, N.C.)
Information	2019 Fact Book \\\ 2019 Prospectus
Social Media	@ECUVB (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ Facebook \\\ #GoPirates

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Having won four consecutive matches, East Carolina keeps its non-conference schedule going with a Tuesday evening encounter with in-state opponent N.C. Central inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. First serve is set for 6 p.m. and admission is free of charge.

ECU won the Pirate Invitational last weekend, defeating George Washington, Norfolk State and USC Upstate for the Pirates' first home tournament title since 2015. East Carolina swept the Colonials and Spartans before staging a comeback for a five-set victory over USC Upstate in the championship match. Junior right side Bri Wood was named the MVP of the event while junior setter Shelby Martin and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Sydney Hall were tabbed to the all-tournament team.

Through nine matches, the Pirates are averaging 13.46 kills, 12.26 assists, 1.54 aces, 15.23 digs and 1.77 blocks per set while sporting a collective .258 hitting percentage. Wood tops the team in kills (122), kills per set (3.49) and hitting percentage (.345). At the net, senior middle blocker Toya Osuegbu sports an average of 0.97 blocks per set (33 total blocks). Redshirt junior libero Brandee Markwith, who earned American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week after putting up 5.44 digs per set in four matches last week, paces the back row with 160 digs (4.57 per set). Additionally, Martin posted a career-high 55 assists, as well as nine kills and eight digs, against USC Upstate to improve her season assists per set average to 7.57 (265 total).

Scouting N.C. Central
N.C. Central enters Tuesday's contest with an 0-11 overall record after losing all three of its matches to UNCW, Davidson and Presbyterian last weekend at the Davidson Invitational. Christine Alcox has been the top offensive performer for the Eagles thus far, racking up 87 kills (2.42 per set) with 59 errors in 288 attempts for an .097 hitting percentage. McKayla Young is averaging a team-best 0.81 blocks per set to go along with 52 kills and a .320 hitting mark. As a team, N.C. Central is putting up 10.49 kills, 9.84 assists, 1.46 aces, 13.81 digs and 1.45 blocks per set as well as hitting .149. Jody Brown is in his fifth season as the Eagles' head coach.

The N.C. Central Series
East Carolina and N.C. Central have matched up 10 times on the volleyball court. The Pirates have defeated the Eagles in each of those contests and have only lost one set. Last season, ECU swept N.C. Central in Durham before defeating the Eagles 3-1 at Minges Coliseum to complete the home and home sweep.

Up Next
East Carolina heads to the mountains this weekend for a pair of matches against Gardner-Webb and Alabama A&M in Boiling Springs.

Gameday: Surging East Carolina Hosts N.C. Central Tuesday Evening

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Hall

Brandee Markwith

Shelby Martin

Toya Osuegbu

Bri Wood

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