East Carolina Fights Past Host North Florida, 3-1

Friday, September 6

Jacksonville, Fla.

10:00 a.m.

East Carolina University

3-0

North Florida

1-3

ECU

UNF

September 06, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In its opening match of the UNF Invitational Friday morning, East Carolina built a two-set lead and held off host North Florida 3-1 (25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 27-25) inside the UNF Arena.

"It's always nice to win on the road," head coach Julie Torbett said. "I feel we had most everything clicking during the match as we dominated the stat sheet, but we were poor in serve-receive. I look forward to improvement in that aspect this afternoon."

The Pirate (3-0) offense continued its strong start to the campaign, hitting .311 in the match while limiting the Ospreys (1-3) to a .207 clip. East Carolina dominated the stat sheet as a team, recording more kills (58-47), digs (54-45) and total blocks (10.0-5.0). The teams also combined for 24 missed serves with the Pirates committing 14 of those errors.

Junior outside hitter Sydney Kleinman paced all players with 18 kills and hit for a high percentage with just five errors in 30 attempts. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Sydney Hall posted a career-high total of 12 kills with only two errors to finish with a .455 hitting percentage. Additionally, junior setter Shelby Martin notched her third double-double in as many matches, ending up with 29 assists and 12 digs. Defensively, redshirt junior libero Brandee Markwith collected a match-best 15 digs while Hall and senior middle blocker Toya Osuegbu compiled four total blocks each.

Solimar Cestero, a 2018 Atlantic Sun Conference All-Freshman selection who did not play during the team's opening weekend tournament, racked up 10 kills to complement 12-kill efforts from teammates Gabby O'Connell and Taryn Griffey. Rocio Moro, the reigning ASUN Freshman of the Week, led her squad with 15 digs.

The teams fought to a tie at six points in the opening set before a nice serving run by junior setter Marissa Harmon allowed the Pirates to take off on a 4-0 run to pull in front 10-6. A kill by Osuegbu later put ECU ahead 16-11 and forced UNF to take the first timeout of the match. The Pirates kept the upper hand for the remainder of the frame, extending their cushion to 21-16 before closing out the set by eight points.

A block by Osuegbu and junior outside hitter Kaiya Heyliger-Powell gave East Carolina a 10-6 advantage in the second. The Pirates looked to pull away, leading 19-15 following a North Florida attacking error. However, a service ace capped a 7-3 Osprey run that tied the score at 22. Junior right side Bri Wood restored order with a kill and Kleinman put the home team away with a kill of her own that afforded ECU the two-point margin of victory.

East Carolina took an early timeout in the third stanza, trailing 9-6, but was unable to quite catch up the rest of the way. The Pirates rallied from a 22-16 deficit to pull within 24-23, but a service error swung the third set in North Florida's favor to extend the match.

The fourth was a tight battle in the early stages. ECU was able to edge out to a 16-14 lead later on after a service ace by Markwith and found itself with an 18-15 lead following a kill by Wood. The Ospreys made one last push, reaching set point at 24-23. After a timeout, the Pirates dug deep and came up with four of the last five points, clinching the match off of an attacking error.

East Carolina continues play at the UNF Invitational later Saturday, facing off with Mercer at 4:30 p.m.