Gameday: ECU Begins AAC Play At Cincinnati And Tulsa

Matches 14-15: at Cincinnati and Tulsa
The Matches	Sept. 27 at Cincinnati \| 7 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch Sept. 29 at Tulsa \| 1 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch
Venue	Fifth-Third Arena (Cincinnati, Ohio) \| Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Okla.)
Information	2019 Fact Book \\\ 2019 Prospectus
Social Media	@ECUVB (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ Facebook \\\ #GoPirates

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Riding the momentum of an eight-match winning streak, East Carolina opens its American Athletic Conference schedule with a pair of road matches at Cincinnati and Tulsa. The Pirates and Bearcats meet up Friday at 7 p.m. while ECU will face off with the Golden Hurricane Sunday at 1 p.m.

East Carolina swept in-state foe Campbell Wednesday in Greenville to improve to 12-1 – the program's best-ever start to a season. Junior outside hitter Sydney Kleinman exploded for 17 kills and a .652 attacking percentage while the Pirates hit a season-best .396 as a team.

Kleinman paces the squad offensively in kills per set at 3.58 with a .284 hitting percentage. Junior right side Bri Wood owns the most kills of any player on the team with 165 (3.24 per set) and is firing at a sizzling .332 clip – fourth best in the league. Defensively speaking, redshirt junior libero Brandee Markwith sits at 251 digs (4.92 per set) and has reached the 30-dig plateau twice including a season-high 32-dig performance in the win at NC State.

Collectively, ECU averages 13.73 kills, 12.49 assists, 1.55 aces, 15.73 digs and 1.88 blocks per set and is hitting .268.

A Look At Cincinnati
Cincinnati is 8-4 overall, most recently losing to then No. 25 Louisville in five sets at home Sunday. The Bearcats are led by All-American outside hitter Jordan Thompson who is among the nation's leaders at 5.87 kills per set and is hitting .337 on an astounding 590 attempts. Cincinnati has also defeated fellow Power 6 clubs South Carolina, Tennessee and Notre Dame. Collectively, the Bearcats are averaging 14.36 kills, 13.38 assists, 1.71 aces, 13.42 digs and 1.30 blocks per set as well as hitting .275. Molly Alvey is in her eighth season as head coach at Cincinnati and has led the Bearcats to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.

About Tulsa
Tulsa opens its American Athletic Conference slate Friday at home against rival Wichita State before hosting East Carolina Sunday. The Golden Hurricane is 7-6 overall heading into the weekend, defeating Samford and falling to Northern Kentucky and Western Kentucky last weekend at the WKU Invitational. Dilara Gedikoglu paces Tulsa as a freshman, averaging 3.84 kills per set (188 total) with a .202 attacking percentage, while Callie Cook is blocking at a 1.10 per set clip. As a team, Tulsa is averaging 12.55 kills, 11.65 assists, 1.29 aces, 14.92 digs and 2.27 blocks per set with a .198 hitting percentage. Ryan Wills is in his sixth season in charge of the Golden Hurricane.

The Cincinnati Series
ECU is 3-13 all-time versus Cincinnati. The Bearcats swept the season series in 2018 with a pair of three-set scores while the Pirates defeated Cincinnati twice during the 2017 campaign - in five sets on the road and in three at home.

The Tulsa Series
Tulsa holds a 19-2 record against East Carolina as the Golden Hurricane won both matchups last season in four sets. The last Pirate victory in the series occurred in 2017 when ECU got the best of Tulsa 3-1 inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

Up Next
East Carolina returns home Friday, Oct. 4 when its hosts USF at 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Kleinman

Brandee Markwith

Bri Wood

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