East Carolina Swept At AAC Preseason Favorite Rice

Sunday, October 13

Houston, Texas

3:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

10-6,3-3AAC

Rice

11-4,6-0AAC

East Carolina

Rice

October 13, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)

HOUSTON, Texas – East Carolina had its chances Sunday afternoon in a match versus American Athletic Conference preseason favorite Rice, but fell short 3-0 (21-25, 20-25, 21-25) inside Tudor Fieldhouse.

The Pirates (10-6, 3-3 AAC) entered the contest looking to hand the Owls (11-4, 6-0 AAC) their first league loss, but Rice kept pace with South Florida atop the conference standings.

Aulie Huff was a bright spot for ECU as she registered a career-high 14 kills and hit .650. Cindy Tchouangwa paced the Owls with a 12-kill performance and fired at a .320 offensive clip.

Rice held the upper hand in pretty much every statistics category, including kills (51-36), service aces (6-1), digs (50-37) and total blocks (8.0-7.0) while outhitting the Pirates .319 to .227.

East Carolina built an early 9-5 lead in the opening frame and held it all the way into the 20s when a kill by Huff made it 21-20, but the Owls scored the final five points of the stanza to grab an early match advantage. After dropping the second set by five, the Pirates raced out to a 13-9 lead in the third. Rice would prove to much in the end though as the home side put together a 12-3 run to put the match out of reach.

Up Next: ECU returns to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Friday, Oct. 18, for an American Conference encounter with Temple. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.