Sunday, October 8
Greenville, N.C.
Noon
East Carolina University
14-4,5-2AAC
3
vs
1
North Texas
10-10,4-3AAC
1
2
3
4
F
North Texas
21
25
24
22
1
East Carolina
25
16
26
25
3
East Carolina Shuts Down High-Flying North Texas, 3-1
October 08, 2023 | Volleyball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina completed the weekend sweep of American Athletic Conference West Division opponents Sunday, knocking off a spirited North Texas side 3-1 (25-21, 16-25, 26-24, 25-22) inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. The Pirates defeated Tulane 3-0 on Friday and have won five of their last six matches.
With the victory, ECU (14-4, 5-2 AAC) moved within a half game of South Florida for first place in the AAC East Division. The Bulls were in action later in the afternoon at Wichita State. East Carolina is off to its best start to a league season since the 2017 squad went 7-2 in its first nine American Conference outings. Additionally, ECU has put together the best record through 18 matches in program history.
In the lone meeting between the programs this season, the Pirates went blow for blow with the Mean Green's (10-10, 4-3 AAC) high-powered offense as the Purple and Gold out-hit the visitors .196 to .178 and notched three of the contest's five service aces. North Texas ended up with slight statistical advantages in total kills (56-52), total digs (59-56) and total blocks (15.0-12.0), but for every two impressive kills, the Mean Green also committed an attacking error – finishing with 28 miscues.
Sophomore outside hitter Angeles Alderete, a preseason all-league selection, led all players – including North Texas' three preseason all-conference picks, in the match with 16 kills and completed her fifth double-double of the campaign by adding 14 digs. Freshman middle blocker Farah Farooq continued to impress in her debut season, notching six kills, six blocks and a .625 hitting percentage. Along the back row, junior libero Lara Uyar collected a contest-best 20 digs. Anyse Smith led North Texas with 15 kills and six blocks.
Set One: The teams traded points back and forth in the opener before ECU broke a 10-10 deadlock with a 5-0 run that was sparked by a Mean Green service error. The Pirates led by as much as 20-14 on block by Farooq and Aulie Huff, but three-straight North Texas scores prompted an East Carolina timeout. The visitors attempted to slice the deficit further but could come no closer than three the rest of the way as another service error ended the set in the Pirates' favor.
Set Two: The Mean Green took charge of the second early on, racing out to a 7-3 lead after an Aryn Johnson kill. The Pirates would call a timeout in an attempt to stem the tide, but North Texas ran away and hid for the remainder of the set, winning it by nine to tie the match at the intermission.
Set Three: ECU got off to a quick start in the third, utilizing three-straight blocks to grab an 11-5 advantage and force a Mean Green timeout. A sneaky second ball kill by Askew later put the Pirates in front 18-12 as the hosts looked to be in control of things. However, North Texas slowly built some momentum and would rally all the way back to knot things up at 21 apiece. East Carolina stayed composed though and fought off a Mean Green set point at 24-23 with a nice kill by Alderete. Smith then fired wide on a cross-court swing and North Texas was called for four contacts on the next rally to give the Pirates the two-point victory and a 2-1 match cushion.
Set Four: With the score tied at four early in the fourth frame, a block by Farooq and Alderete jumpstarted a 6-2 ECU run that propelled the Pirates ahead by four. The Mean Green were able to even the set at 10 with a quick 4-0 spurt before Smith committed another attacking error to help East Carolina side out. A thundering kill by Huff later in the proceedings saw the Pirates pull ahead 20-17, however, North Texas answered again with a 3-0 run to draw level. The sides traded the next two points to stay tied at 21 but the Purple and Gold would not be denied. Carlia Northcross put a volleyball down in the open middle of the court and Brittany Wood tooled the block to make it 23-21 before Smith kept the Mean Green alive with a kill, but McBride and Northcross slammed the door shut with consecutive kills to cement a quality conference win.
Up Next: ECU hits the road Oct. 13-14 for a pair of AAC matches at Temple.
With the victory, ECU (14-4, 5-2 AAC) moved within a half game of South Florida for first place in the AAC East Division. The Bulls were in action later in the afternoon at Wichita State. East Carolina is off to its best start to a league season since the 2017 squad went 7-2 in its first nine American Conference outings. Additionally, ECU has put together the best record through 18 matches in program history.
In the lone meeting between the programs this season, the Pirates went blow for blow with the Mean Green's (10-10, 4-3 AAC) high-powered offense as the Purple and Gold out-hit the visitors .196 to .178 and notched three of the contest's five service aces. North Texas ended up with slight statistical advantages in total kills (56-52), total digs (59-56) and total blocks (15.0-12.0), but for every two impressive kills, the Mean Green also committed an attacking error – finishing with 28 miscues.
Sophomore outside hitter Angeles Alderete, a preseason all-league selection, led all players – including North Texas' three preseason all-conference picks, in the match with 16 kills and completed her fifth double-double of the campaign by adding 14 digs. Freshman middle blocker Farah Farooq continued to impress in her debut season, notching six kills, six blocks and a .625 hitting percentage. Along the back row, junior libero Lara Uyar collected a contest-best 20 digs. Anyse Smith led North Texas with 15 kills and six blocks.
Set One: The teams traded points back and forth in the opener before ECU broke a 10-10 deadlock with a 5-0 run that was sparked by a Mean Green service error. The Pirates led by as much as 20-14 on block by Farooq and Aulie Huff, but three-straight North Texas scores prompted an East Carolina timeout. The visitors attempted to slice the deficit further but could come no closer than three the rest of the way as another service error ended the set in the Pirates' favor.
Set Two: The Mean Green took charge of the second early on, racing out to a 7-3 lead after an Aryn Johnson kill. The Pirates would call a timeout in an attempt to stem the tide, but North Texas ran away and hid for the remainder of the set, winning it by nine to tie the match at the intermission.
Set Three: ECU got off to a quick start in the third, utilizing three-straight blocks to grab an 11-5 advantage and force a Mean Green timeout. A sneaky second ball kill by Askew later put the Pirates in front 18-12 as the hosts looked to be in control of things. However, North Texas slowly built some momentum and would rally all the way back to knot things up at 21 apiece. East Carolina stayed composed though and fought off a Mean Green set point at 24-23 with a nice kill by Alderete. Smith then fired wide on a cross-court swing and North Texas was called for four contacts on the next rally to give the Pirates the two-point victory and a 2-1 match cushion.
Set Four: With the score tied at four early in the fourth frame, a block by Farooq and Alderete jumpstarted a 6-2 ECU run that propelled the Pirates ahead by four. The Mean Green were able to even the set at 10 with a quick 4-0 spurt before Smith committed another attacking error to help East Carolina side out. A thundering kill by Huff later in the proceedings saw the Pirates pull ahead 20-17, however, North Texas answered again with a 3-0 run to draw level. The sides traded the next two points to stay tied at 21 but the Purple and Gold would not be denied. Carlia Northcross put a volleyball down in the open middle of the court and Brittany Wood tooled the block to make it 23-21 before Smith kept the Mean Green alive with a kill, but McBride and Northcross slammed the door shut with consecutive kills to cement a quality conference win.
Up Next: ECU hits the road Oct. 13-14 for a pair of AAC matches at Temple.
Team Stats
UNT
ECU
Kills
56
52
Errors
28
23
Attempts
157
148
Hitting %
.178
.196
Points
73.0
67.0
Assists
50
48
Aces
2
3
Blocks
15
12
Game Leaders
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
Outside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Right Side
/ VolleyballMiddle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Outside Hitter
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