An Update From AD Jon Gilbert

Pirate Nation:

The action heats up this week on the Grady-White Boats Athletic Campus, with six home events, including season-openers for men's and women's basketball, a nationally televised football game, and two conference volleyball matches. This is a wonderful time to show your support for our programs.

It's not too late to purchase tickets for our basketball programs. Your commitment through season tickets is essential for us to generate the revenue we need to compete at the highest level.

Check out the schedule below and don't miss your chance to support the Pirates!

Monday, November 4- Men's Basketball vs. N.C. Wesleyan, 7:00 p.m., Minges Coliseum
Purchase tickets here.

Wednesday, November 6 – Women's Basketball vs. Charleston Southern, 6:00 p.m., Minges Coliseum.
Purchase tickets here

Thursday, November 7 – Football vs. Florida Atlantic, 8:00 p.m., Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
Purchase tickets here.

Friday, November 8 – Volleyball vs. Tulsa, 6:00 p.m., Minges Coliseum, Free Admission

Saturday, November 9 – Men's Basketball vs. Coastal Carolina, 4:00 p.m., Minges Coliseum
Purchase tickets here

Sunday, November 10 – Volleyball vs. South Florida, 1:00 p.m., Minges Coliseum, Free Admission

ECU Soccer Secures 3rd Seed In AAC Tournament; All-AAC Honors Roll In
A special congratulations to head coach Gary Higgins and the Pirates soccer team for earning the third seed in the AAC Tournament – the program's highest-ever finish in the AAC! The Pirates open postseason play today against Charlotte at 11 a.m. on ESPN+. With a .647 winning percentage (8-3-6 record), this is the Pirates best regular season since 2008.

Six players were named all-conference for their play. Sidney Schnell was a first-team selection, Abby Sowa received second team honors, and Annabelle Abbott, Maeve English and Juliana Viera were named third-team All-AAC. Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram was named to the All-Freshman Team.

Volleyball Streaking To Success With 6 Straight Wins
The Pirates volleyball team is getting hot at the right time, securing six consecutive wins, including a sweep over the weekend at Memphis and UAB. With four regular season matches remaining, three at home, head coach Adler Augustin has the group third in the conference standings, one game back from the top position. The Pirates are 16-6 overall and 9-3 in AAC play. Plan to join us this weekend as we host two of the top teams in the conference, Tulsa (Friday) and conference leader South Florida (Sunday).

Partnership With Team Boneyard On Pirate Club Priority Points
We announced earlier today that donors to the Team Boneyard collective will now be awarded Pirate Club priority points. We felt this was appropriate to recognize the individuals and businesses that have supported our student-athletes through NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) initiatives.

Our department continues to embrace the challenges of the ever-changing collegiate landscape and your support in the NIL landscape strengthens our recruitment efforts and ensures ECU remains competitive. We must grow our engagement with Team Boneyard as it will take all of Pirate Nation to make sure we remain competitive in his space.

As I have written before, we are not asking to be the leader in the NIL landscape, but we must remain competitive to give us the best opportunity for success. Recruiting is a major part of collegiate athletics whether it's high school or through the transfer portal. The football transfer portal opens December 9 and runs through December 28. We ask that you continue to engage our student-athletes with NIL opportunities and collaborate with Team Boneyard.

As an added benefit, donors contributing to Team Boneyard between Monday, November 4, and Monday, December 2, will receive an exclusive bonus of triple priority points. The Pirate Club will also offer retroactive points dating back to Nov. 3, 2023.

All Eyes On Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
We are excited to welcome ESPN to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Thursday as the Pirates host Florida Atlantic at 8 p.m. in a conference showdown. This is the first of back-to-back nationally televised games with a trip to Tulsa set for Thursday, Nov. 14. If you can't make it on Thursday, let the Pirate Club staff know so we can ensure your seats are filled.

I'm incredibly proud of our football student-athletes, coaches and staff for their resiliency and performance last week in the win over Temple. Thank you to all of Pirate Nation for your loyalty and support of this team. With four regular season games remaining, we have a lot of football left with a postseason appearance within reach.

Pirates Earn All-Conference Honors
Alex Sawyer and J Henry Lyon from the ECU cross country's program earned All-Conference honors at the 2024 American Athletic Conference Championships last weekend. The duo became the first Pirates to earn all-conference accolades on the men's side since 2019.

Pirates Unite Campaign Update
The Pirates Unite Campaign has reached an impressive $41 million, thanks to the generosity of our donors. Individuals and businesses have choices in how they spend their money, and we can't thank our donors enough for their generous investment and belief in our department. The investments in this campaign make a meaningful difference for our 430 student-athletes, impacting every sport in the department.

Pirates Swimming And Diving Team Split In Richmond Meet
The Pirates swimming and diving team competed over the weekend in the Richmond Dual Meet and came away with a win over Richmond and fell short against Pennsylvania. Junior Frida Zuniga Guzman earned wins in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, while sophomore Olivia Templeton finished second in both events.

Senior Kaylee Hamblin ran away with the 100-yard backstroke while Juliana Kratka placed third. With season-best times in the 200-yard butterfly (2:02.88) and 100-yard butterfly (56.10), junior Sara Kalawska won both events against Richmond. Kaylee Hamblin placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:19.16). The Pirates won the 400-yard freestyle with a time of 3:29.45. You can read the full recap of the match here.

Football/Basketball Doubleheader Alert
Mark your calendars for a Pirates doubleheader on Friday, November 29 with the football team hosting Navy at noon followed by the men's basketball team taking on North Carolina A&T inside Minges Coliseum at 5:30 p.m.

With the purchase of a Navy football ticket, upper-level tickets for the hoops contest will be discounted to $5. Fans can purchase discounted men's basketball tickets at the ECU Athletics Ticket Office beginning at 4:30 p.m. on the day of the game with a valid football ticket.

Thank you, Pirate Nation, for your continued loyalty and commitment. Let's make this week unforgettable for our student-athletes and the entire Pirates community.

Go Pirates!

Jon

Players Mentioned

Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram

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