East Carolina Wins Four Setter At Memphis

Friday, November 1

Memphis, Tenn.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

15-6,8-3American

Memphis

10-13,4-7American

East Carolina

Memphis

November 01, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – East Carolina extended its winning streak to five Friday night with a 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-19, 25-23) victory over host Memphis at the Larry O. Finch Center.

The Pirates (15-6, 8-3 AAC) maintained its hold on third place in the league standings with five matches to go in the regular season while the Tigers fell to 10-13 overall and 4-7 in league action.

Efficiency on offense was the ticket for the Purple and Gold as ECU put three players in double figures in the kill column. Ellie Pate paced the Pirates with 18 while Angeles Alderete and Fran McBride logged 13 apiece for an East Carolina side that produced a stout .328 hitting percentage. That proved the clear difference in the contest as the teams finished virtually even in every other statistical category.

Hannah Jones racked up a match-high 21 kills for Memphis, but the Tigers committed 28 attacking errors in 142 attempts to fire at a .176 clip.

The Pirates were forced to rally in the first set after falling behind 18-15 and using a timeout. A kill by Izzy Marinelli sparked a quick 4-0 ECU spurt that gave the Pirates the lead briefly before Clara Bednarek scored to tie things up once more. Alderete and Aulie Huff put down consecutive kills from there and East Carolina did not trail again in closing out the stanza by four.

ECU collected an 8-3 advantage to start the second set, but Memphis would chip away at the deficit and eventually knot the score at 15. An ace by Payton Evenstad afforded the Pirates a late 21-18 edge before Evenstad collected a kill a few rallies later to make it 23-21. However, it was the Tigers who netted five of the last six points to steal the frame and tie the match at the intermission.

A 3-0 East Carolina run, sparked by a Carlia Northcross kill, with the score tied at 16 in the third set proved decisive as the Pirates pulled away to win the stanza by six and wrest back control of the match heading into the fourth. That final frame was nip and tuck throughout and would settle at a 21-21 stalemate following a Tiger attacking error. The teams sided out to a tie at 23 before McBride unleashed a kill to put ECU at match point and Memphis committed another offensive miscue to give the Pirates the win.

Up Next: East Carolina wraps up its road swing Sunday at 1 p.m. when it visits UAB.