ECU Drops Marathon AAC Opener At Tulsa

Friday, September 23

Tulsa, Okla.

8:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

5-8,0-1AAC

Tulsa

8-5,1-0AAC

East Carolina

Tulsa

September 23, 2022 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. – After seeing East Carolina rally back from a two-set deficit Friday night, Tulsa limited the Pirates to a negative hitting percentage in the deciding frame to post a 3-2 (25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 15-25, 15-6) victory in both teams' first American Athletic Conference match of the campaign inside the Reynolds Center.

ECU (5-8, 0-1 AAC) fell to 0-14 all-time against the Golden Hurricane in road matches and remained winless all time in American Conference openers.

Despite allowing East Carolina to hit over .300 in three of the five sets, Tulsa (8-5, 1-0 AAC) recovered in the fifth by forcing the Pirates to commit six attacking errors for -.130 efficiency. ECU held the advantage in total kills (63-61), hitting percentage (.239 to .220) and total blocks (8.0-6.0), but the home side finished with an 82-80 edge in digs. The Golden Hurricane entered the contest as the nation's leader in digs per set.

Angeles Alderete extended her fantastic debut season into league play, racking up a double-double of 20 kills and 13 digs to go along with a .246 hitting percentage. Both Pirate setters checked in with double-doubles of their own as Payton Evenstad notched 30 assists and 12 digs while Julianna Askew recorded 21 assists and 11 digs. Askew is now just five assists away from 3,000 for her career. Kenzie Beckham anchored the back row to the tune of 17 digs, complemented by a 16-dig performance out of Kellyn Trowse.

Kayley Cassaday, an All-AAC Preseason Team selection, led all players with 22 kills. Avery Kalsu fell just short of a triple-double (26 assists/14 digs/nine kills) on Tulsa's side of things.

The Golden Hurricane pulled away in the middle portion of the first two stanzas to seize a commanding lead at the intermission. However, East Carolina dug down and put together a stirring rally.

A strong service run by the league's top aces per set performer in Evenstad propelled the Pirates to a 5-0 advantage in the third. Tulsa made a late run, pulling within 23-21 later in the set, but a kill by Alderete and an ace off Askew's serve sealed the deal.

ECU never let the home team into the fourth frame, establishing a 15-7 cushion and prompting the Golden Hurricane to burn both of its timeouts. Tulsa never threatened and the Pirates put themselves in position to complete the reverse sweep.

Unfortunately for the Purple and Gold, the rally short circuited in the fifth set. ECU could not find its footing, falling behind 9-1 as the Golden Hurricane put it on cruise control the rest of the way.

Up Next: East Carolina heads up to Kansas Sunday for an encounter with Wichita State at the Charles Koch Arena. First serve is set for 1 p.m. ET and the match will air live on ESPN+.