East Carolina Hosts Wichita State In AAC Opener

Match 12: Wichita State at East Carolina
Coverage	Sept. 20 \| vs. Wichita State \| 6:00 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch
Venue	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (Greenville, N.C.)
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #ECUVB #NoQuarter

Weekly Release No. 5 (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Armed with a 9-2 overall record and five-match winning streak, East Carolina officially opens its American Athletic Conference schedule with a match against visiting Wichita State Wednesday evening inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. and the contest will stream live via ESPN+ with Evan Budrovich and Brittany Hoyt on the call.

The Pirates won a pair of matches at the Virginia Tech Classic last weekend, sweeping Duquesne before knocking off the host Hokies in five sets and handing Virginia Tech its first loss of the season. Senior right side Fran McBride was tabbed the tournament MVP while senior setter Julianna Askew and junior libero Lara Uyar were named to the all-tournament team.

ECU is off to its best start to a season since 2019 with seven of its nine wins occurring in three sets. The Pirates sit atop the AAC East Division standings with Temple (9-2) as the duo sits ahead of Florida Atlantic (8-5), Charlotte (7-5), South Florida (6-5), Memphis (4-8) and UAB (2-10).

East Carolina ranks among the league leaders in several categories, pacing the circuit in opposing hitting percentage (.129) and slotting second in hitting percentage (.256), fourth in points per set (16.82) and aces per set (1.84) and fifth in assists per set (11.82). Individually, sophomore outside hitter Angeles Alderete ranks third in aces per set (0.42) and ninth in points per set (3.46) while sophomore middle blocker Carlia Northcross is sixth in blocks per set (1.16) and eighth in hitting percentage (.348).

The American Athletic Conference does not sponsor a league tournament this season, so the overall regular season champion will earn the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship.

A Look At Wichita State
Wichita State brings a 6-4 record to Greenville, a mark that includes wins over Houston Christian, Illinois, Illinois State, Bradley, Omaha and Northern Colorado as well as losses to Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Kansas and Colorado. The Shockers rank fourth in the American Conference in opposing hitting percentage (.150) as well as fifth in both points per set (16.26) and hitting percentage (.229). Natalie Foster is enjoying a productive season, slotting first in the league in hitting percentage (.427) and second in blocks per set (1.29) while Izzi Strand is second in assists per set (9.60).

The Wichita State Series
Wichita State leads the series with East Carolina by a 9-0 margin. The teams did not meet before the Shockers joined the conference prior to the 2017 campaign.

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 have been 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.

Introduced To Some, Reacquainted With Others
The American Athletic Conference underwent a membership shift in July, welcoming Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA to the league to offset the departure of Cincinnati, Houston and UCF to the Big 12 Conference. East Carolina is familiar with a handful of the newcomers as they have shared Conference USA membership with Charlotte, Rice and UAB in the past. The Owls enter the AAC having won the 2022 C-USA Tournament title and making an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

ECU At-A-Glance
Record - 9-2 (.818) // AAC Record - 0-0 (.000) // Last 5 Matches - 5-0 (1.000) // Last 10 Matches - 8-2 (.800) // Last 15 Matches - 0-0 (.000) // ECU will play the 85th match of the Adler Augustin era when it hosts Wichita State Wednesday evening. // The Pirates' all-time record stands at 565-857 as the program is in its 46th season of competition.

Up Next
East Carolina returns to Minges Coliseum Sept. 29-30 for a two-match American Athletic Conference set with league newcomer Florida Atlantic.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Angeles Alderete

Julianna Askew

Fran McBride

Carlia Northcross

Lara Uyar

Footer