East Carolina Rallies For 3-2 Victory At Temple

Friday, October 13

Philadelphia, Pa.

6:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

15-4,6-2AAC

Temple

12-6,3-4AAC

East Carolina

Temple

October 13, 2023 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Trailing two sets to none deficit in a hostile road environment, East Carolina refused to back down and completed the reverse sweep of Temple (21-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-8) to claim a crucial American Athletic Conference win Friday night at McGonigle Hall.

The Pirates (15-4, 6-2 AAC) now own the best record through 19 matches in program history while also keeping pace with South Florida for first place in the AAC East Division after the Bulls swept Charlotte down in Tampa.

ECU called on the steely reserve away from home that it has displayed all year long, improving to 10-1 in matches outside of Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum including 5-1 in true road contests. The Pirates handed the Owls (12-6, 3-4 AAC) their first loss in a five-set affair this season and just their third setback at home.

While Temple accumulated more kills (56-52), East Carolina took care of business on the defensive end by limiting the Owls to a .148 hitting percentage. The Pirates also racked up 14.0 total blocks to Temple's 10.0 and won the battle in the digs column by a 68-62 margin. ECU dominated the deciding stanza, hitting .304 as compared to the Owls' paltry .000 performance.

East Carolina received nice offensive outings from each of its offensive positions as senior right side hitter Fran McBride, sophomore outside hitter Angeles Alderete and freshman middle blocker Farah Farooq notched 12, 10 and 10 kills respectively while McBride hit .308 with just four attacking errors in 26 attempts. Alderete also contributed defensively by adding 14 digs to complete the double-double. Lara Uyar, who transferred into the program before the campaign from fellow American Athletic Conference member Wichita State, contributed a rare libero double-double with a career-high 10 assists and a match-high 20 digs. Olivia Vance paced Temple with 14 kills.

Set One: A slow start plagued ECU in the opener as the Owls built leads of 11-6 and 18-11 to force the Pirates into calling both of their timeouts. East Carolina was only able to slice the deficit down the four the rest of the way as Temple claimed the early match advantage.

Set Two: An attack error by Vance left the sides knotted at eight in the second before the Owls scored three straight to seize control. However, an 8-3 run sparked in part by a Julianna Askew ace, flipped the script and propelled the Pirates ahead 16-14. ECU later found itself in front 19-16 but could only score three more points in the stanza as Temple surged to the three-point win and a 2-0 lead in the contest.

Set Three: Behind 10-8 and in danger of losing in three, East Carolina dug down and put together a big 10-3 run capped by a Alderete and Farooq block to take an 18-13 edge. The Owls did their best to make it interesting, rallying to tie the score at 21 before Northcross and Aulie Huff each registered a kill and teamed up for a block to put the Purple and Gold at set point leading 24-21. A pair of consecutive service errors would end the frame in the Pirates' favor to extend the evening.

Set Four: ECU fell behind once again in the fourth set, this time by a 12-9 margin. Following a timeout, a 7-2 run allowed the Pirates to propel themselves once again in front. A Northcross service ace seemingly afforded East Carolina an insurmountable 22-18 upper hand, but Temple came up with three straight scores to pull within one. The Pirates never relinquished the lead though as an attacking error by Taylor Davenport ended up clinching the set for ECU.

Set Five: The decider saw the squads share the first six points but the Pirates, with all the momentum, blitzed the Owls with an 8-1 run sparked in part by a handful of Brittany Wood kills to put any further drama to bed. Temple scored three straight from there but the East Carolina advantage was far too much for the home team to overcome. As one of the best blocking teams in the conference and the nation, the Pirates fittingly terminated the Owls with consecutive stuffs by Northcross and Huff.

Up Next: ECU and Temple meet once more Saturday at 1 p.m.