East Carolina Travels West To Rice And Tulsa

Matches 23-24: East Carolina at Rice and Tulsa
Coverage	October 27 \| at Rice \| 5:30 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch October 29 \| at Tulsa \| 1:00 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch
Venue	Houston, Texas (Tudor Fieldhouse) \| Tulsa, Okla. (Reynolds Center)
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #ECUVB #NoQuarter

Weekly Release No. 11 (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina embarks on a crucial road swing this weekend, taking on American Athletic Conference West Division opponents Rice and Tulsa Oct. 27 and 29 respectively. The Pirates and Owls do battle Friday at 5:30 p.m. inside Tudor Fieldhouse while ECU faces off with the Golden Hurricane at 1 p.m. Sunday from the Reynolds Center. Both matches will stream live via ESPN+.

ECU (18-4, 9-2 AAC) maintained the best start in program history through 22 matches with a home series sweep of Memphis last Thursday and Friday while also extending their current win streak to six. Coupled with South Florida's home loss to North Texas, East Carolina sits 1.5 matches clear of the Bulls for first place in the East Division. The Pirates are also just one game back of SMU for the overall league lead. Thanks to a sweep over Memphis Thursday, ECU has notched the most 3-0 victories in a single season in the school annals.

East Carolina ranks inside the top four on the conference statistical list in five categories. The Pirates are first in opposing hitting percentage (.145), second in both hitting percentage (.244) and blocks per set (2.46), third in service aces per set (1.58) and fourth in points per set (16.70). On the national scale, ECU slots fourth in opposing hitting percentage and 50th in blocks per set.

Individually, sophomore middle blocker Carlia Northcross paces the American in blocks per set (1.21) and is 60th nationally. She is also 45th in total blocks (93). Senior setter Julianna Askew checks in eighth in the league in aces per set (0.34).

The Pirates have fared quite well in matches played away from Greenville, producing an 11-1 record in road and neutral contests. East Carolina owns true road wins at UNCW, Virginia Tech, UAB (twice) and Temple (twice).

Scouting Rice
Rice (13-7, 7-3 AAC) resides in third place in The American West Division after falling twice to league leader SMU in Dallas last weekend. The Owls lost a four setter Friday before pushing the Mustangs to five sets the next day. Like East Carolina, Rice has put up elite defensive numbers as it leads the nation in digs per set (19.12) while pacing the conference in blocks per set (2.62). The Owls are also second in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.146). Nia McCardell tops the AAC in digs per set (5.08) and is 18th nationally. Rice is 7-3 at home with wins over Southern Miss, USC, Houston Christian, Florida Gulf Coast, UAB and UTSA (twice) as well as losses to Louisiana-Lafayette, Stanford and Florida Atlantic.

The Rice Series
Rice leads the series with East Carolina 9-3 and has captured the last eight meetings. The sides have not played since both were members of Conference USA back in 2013. The Pirates' last win over the Owls occurred in five sets back on Oct. 28, 2007, in Houston.

About Tulsa
Tulsa (11-12, 4-7 AAC) is tied with UTSA for fifth place in The American West Division. The Golden Hurricane nearly pulled off a victory at Oklahoma Tuesday but the Sooners rallied from a 2-0 deficit to pull the reverse sweep at McCasland Field House. Tulsa has always prided itself on defense and this campaign is no different as the Golden Hurricane slots second in the conference in digs per set (16.79). ECU will also have to contend with Kayley Cassaday who ranks second in the nation in kills per set (5.12) as well as third in points per set (5.54). Tulsa is 3-4 at home this season with triumphs over Oral Roberts, UT Arlington and Central Arkansas as well as setbacks to Rice (twice) and SMU (twice).

The Tulsa Series
Tulsa has owned the series with East Carolina historically, leading it 24-3. However, the Pirates got the best of the Golden Hurricane in the teams' lone meeting last season in Greenville, winning a four-set decision inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. ECU seeks its first-ever win at the Reynolds Center, having dropped all 14 matches inside the facility. It was a close call on the road in 2022 as the Golden Hurricane fended off the Pirates in five sets.

By The Slimmest Of Margins
Of East Carolina's 21 set losses this season, 10 have occurred by just two points. Conversely, the Pirates have won 57 sets and have captured 47 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.

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.

ECU At-A-Glance
Overall Record - 18-4 (.800) // AAC Record - 9-2 (.818) // Last 5 Matches - 5-0 (1.000) // Last 10 Matches - 9-1 (.900) // Last 15 Matches - 13-2 (.867) // ECU will play the 96th match of the Adler Augustin era when it visits Rice Friday evening. // The Pirates' all-time record stands at 574-859 with the program in its 46th season of competition.

Up Next
East Carolina hosts current league leader SMU Friday, Nov. 3, inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. First serve is slated for 6 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Julianna Askew

Carlia Northcross

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