Pirates Fall To Vaqueros In Three

Friday, September 17

Greenville, N.C.

7:30 p.m.

East Carolina University

3-5,0-0AAC

UTRGV

7-4,0-0WAC

UTRGV

East Carolina

September 17, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – An efficient offensive performance lifted UTRGV past East Carolina 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-17) Friday night inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

The Vaqueros, who swept Appalachian State in the first match of the Pirate Invitational, improve to 7-4 overall while ECU dips to 3-5.

Paced by a contest-high 22 kills out of Sarah Cruz, UTRGV hit .293 for the match while also out-digging East Carolina 66-43. The Pirates finished with the upper hand in total blocks (9.0-3.0).

Senior right side Bri Wood led the ECU offense with 13 kills and a .244 hitting percentage while freshman libero Tia Shum collected 15 digs and freshman middle blocker Amelia Davis compiled five blocks.

The Pirates utilized an early timeout in the first set trailing 8-4 after a Veronika Jandova kill. Consecutive kills by Wood later in the frame sliced the Vaquero advantage to 17-15, but East Carolina could come no closer the rest of the way.

Another early deficit forced ECU to call for time in the second as Jandova converted a swing to give her side a 7-4 lead. The Pirates fell behind by as much as eight before a block by senior outside hitter Natalie Tyson and freshman middle blocker Aaliyah Griffin sliced the deficit to 22-19. UTRGV claimed three of the final four points to win the stanza and enjoy a two sets to none lead at the intermission.

The third was tight most of the way until the Vaqueros broke a 14-14 deadlock with a 4-0 run to seize control. ECU called for time trailing 18-14 but was not able to complete the comeback.

Up Next: East Carolina takes on Appalachian State in the finale of the Pirate Invitational Saturday at 3 p.m.