Northeastern Tops East Carolina, 3-1

Friday, September 2

Durham, N.C.

10:00 a.m.

East Carolina University

2-2,0-0AAC

Northeastern

1-3,0-0CAA

Northeastern

East Carolina

September 02, 2022 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

DURHAM, N.C. – Northeastern put three players in double figures in the kill column and hit .238 on the way to its first victory of the season, a 3-1 (21-25, 25-15, 29-27, 25-21) decision over East Carolina Friday morning inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. The match began the Duke Invitational which continues later Friday and into Saturday.

The Pirates (2-2) could not hold on after winning the opening frame, hitting .095 and .118 in the second and fourth sets to finish at .199. Conversely, the Huskies (1-3) fired at a .238 clip and hit above .200 in the final three stanzas. Northeastern dominated the stat sheet in both kills (67-42) and digs (72-43) while ECU ended up with the advantage in the block column (10-7).

Erica Staunton racked up a match-high 21 kills and hit .317 as Laura Seeger and Defne Arliel joined her in double figures with 14 and 13 respectively. Angeles Alderete and Brittany Wood collected 11 kills apiece for the Pirates. Defensively, Kenzie Beckham recorded a squad-high 14 digs while Shaylynn Hall and Kianie Cummings tallied five blocks each. Kayla Martin anchored the Huskies' back row with a contest-best 27 digs.

A Seeger attack error saw East Carolina build a 16-10 advantage in the opening set. A 5-1 Northeastern run later in frame tightened the score to 22-20, but Izzy Marinelli put down a pair of kills in the final four rallies as the Pirates held on by four.

After the Huskies raced to a 10-point win in set two, the third stanza was much closer. The frame featured 18 ties and eight lead changes as Northeastern was eventually able to break a 27-27 deadlock and net the final two points.

ECU seemed to be in control of the fourth set, but the Huskies turned a 13-9 deficit into a tie at 17 following a Pirate attacking error. Northeastern used that momentum to pull away, ending the match on an 8-4 run.

Up Next: East Carolina returns to the Cameron Indoor Stadium floor Saturday with a pair of matches versus East Tennessee State (Noon) and the host Blue Devils (7 p.m.).