East Carolina Meets Memphis For Two-Match AAC Set

Matches 21-22: Memphis at East Carolina
Coverage	October 19 \| vs. Memphis \| 6:00 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch October 20 \| vs. Memphis \| 1:00 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch
Venue	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum \| Greenville, N.C.
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #ECUVB #NoQuarter

Weekly Release No. 10 (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina volleyball team returns home to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Oct. 19-20 for two matches against American Athletic Conference East Division opponent Memphis.

The Pirates and Tigers do battle Thursday at 6 p.m. before reconvening Friday at 1 p.m. Both contests will stream live via ESPN+ with Brittany Hoyt and Evan Budrovich on the call.

ECU (16-4, 7-2 AAC) secured a pair of key victories at Temple last weekend to keep pace with South Florida for first place in the East Division. The Pirates rallied from a 2-0 deficit Friday to pull the reverse sweep before scorching the Owls in straight sets Saturday.

Freshman middle blocker Farah Farooq was tabbed to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll for her performance, averaging 3.63 points, 2.25 kills and 1.50 blocks per set to go along with a stout .452 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Brittany Wood also continued her recent offensive emergence, notching a season-high 12 kills in Saturday's sweep.

East Carolina owns its best record through 20 matches in program history and has matched the 2017 squad for the best start to an AAC season (7-2). The Pirates have also entered the top 100 of the NCAA RPI ranking at No. 98.

Solid defense and a low-error offense has been the formula thus far as ECU ranks in the top three of the conference in five statistical categories, slotting first in hitting percentage (.250) and second in opponent hitting percentage (.144) and blocks per set (2.51) as well as third in points per set (16.88) and service aces per set (1.63). Nationally, the Pirates are all the way up to fifth in opponent hitting percentage, 34th in blocks per set, 47th in total blocks (178.5) and 50th in hitting percentage.

Sophomore middle blocker Carlia Northcross enters the weekend leading the AAC in blocks per set at 1.26 and ranking 49th nationally. She is also the league pacesetter in total blocks (88) and checks in at 34th in the country. Additionally, senior setter Julianna Askew is fifth in the conference in aces per set (0.38) while Farooq and junior libero Lara Uyar are 10th in blocks per set (1.00) and digs per set (3.82) respectively.

Scouting Memphis
Memphis (8-13, 4-5 AAC) resides in fourth place in the AAC East Division standings as well as ninth overall. The Tigers picked up two home wins over UAB last weekend and have won three straight as they head to Greenville. Memphis ranks in the bottom half of the league in most statistical categories but does slot fourth in service aces per set (1.62). Rylee Busse has given opposing passers trouble all season long as she leads the conference in aces per set (0.48) while Loren Robertson checks in at eighth in assists per set (6.70). The Tigers seek their first true road win of the campaign, having dropped decisions to Toledo, Washington, SMU and Charlotte (twice). Sean Burdette is in his sixth season at the helm of the program and holds a 72-84 record as Memphis' head coach.

The Memphis Series
Memphis leads the series with East Carolina by a 24-11 margin, but the Pirates have been more competitive as of late - winning eight of the 15 meetings since joining the American Athletic Conference. The sides split the season series in 2022, each winning on the other's home court in five sets.

East Carolina Picked To Finish Second In AAC East Division
The Pirates were tabbed to place second in the East Division of the American Athletic Conference this season according to a release of the preseason coaches poll Aug. 21. ECU garnered 70 points and five first-place votes, slotting just behind Memphis. The Tigers collected seven first-place votes and 72 points. Florida Atlantic and Temple tied for third place in the division, followed by South Florida, UAB and Charlotte. SMU is the favorite in the West Division and earned seven votes to win the overall regular season title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Rice, the 2022 Conference USA Tournament champion, received six votes to take the regular season crown.

By The Slimmest Of Margins
Of East Carolina's 20 set losses this season, 10 have occurred by just two points. Conversely, the Pirates have won 51 sets and have captured 42 of them by three or more points.

Behind Enemy Lines
East Carolina's 3-2 win at Virginia Tech marked the Pirates' first road victory over a so-called "Power Five" club since Sept. 10, 2019, when ECU rallied from a 2-0 deficit to knock off NC State in five sets at Reynolds Coliseum. It was also the second win over an ACC opponent for head coach Adler Augustin who guided the Pirates to a sweep of North Carolina in the spring of 2021.

ECU At-A-Glance
Overall Record - 16-4 (.800) // AAC Record - 7-2 (.778) // Last 5 Matches - 4-1 (.800) // Last 10 Matches - 8-2 (.800) // Last 15 Matches - 12-3 (.800) // ECU will play the 94th match of the Adler Augustin era when it hosts Memphis Thursday evening. // The Pirates' all-time record stands at 572-859 with the program in its 46th season of competition.

Up Next
East Carolina heads back on the road to take on a pair of AAC West Division foes in Rice (Oct. 27) and Tulsa (Oct. 29).

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Players Mentioned

Julianna Askew

Farah Farooq

Carlia Northcross

Lara Uyar

Brittany Wood

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