East Carolina Begins Critical Homestand With Tulsa And South Florida

Matches 23-24: Tulsa and South Florida at East Carolina
Coverage	Nov. 8 \| vs. Tulsa \| 6:00 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch Nov. 10 \| vs. South Florida \| 1:00 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch
Venues	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum \| Greenville, N.C.
Match Notes	East Carolina \| Tulsa \| South Florida
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #ECUVB #NoQuarter

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The race for the American Athletic Conference regular season crown nears its conclusion this weekend and East Carolina is right in the thick of things. The Pirates, winners of six straight, host Tulsa (Friday/6 p.m.) and league co-leader South Florida (Sunday/1 p.m.) in a pair of key league battles inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

Both matches with stream live through ESPN+ with Patrick Johnson and Brittany Hoyt on the call.

ECU (16-6, 9-3 AAC) has positioned itself well to challenge for that conference championship, downing Memphis and UAB on the road last Friday and Sunday to remain within one game of Rice and South Florida for first place.

The Pirates are finally healthy at the right time. East Carolina's sweep of Florida Atlantic a few weeks ago marked the first time that all players in the Purple and Gold were available, and it's resulted in ECU claiming four of its last six victories in three sets. Izzy Marinelli, an outside hitter by trade, is giving the Pirates high value as a middle – proven by her stat line in the win at UAB where she registered six kills on eight attempts with no errors for a .750 hitting percentage and collected a career-high six blocks.

With quality depth at seemingly every position, East Carolina finds itself pacing the league in hitting percentage (.236) as well as sitting second in opponent hitting percentage (.177) and fifth in both assists per set (11.99) and digs per set (15.17). Carlia Northcross remains a force at the net, ranking third in the conference in blocks per set (1.10) while Fran McBride and Lara Uyar check in at fifth in hitting percentage (.330) and digs per set (3.78) respectively.

ECU has turned Minges Coliseum into a veritable fortress in 2024, winning all eight times it has stepped foot inside the friendly confines. The Pirates have turned aside North Carolina A&T, Texas A&M-Commerce, Western Carolina, UTSA, North Texas, Temple, Wichita State and Florida Atlantic.

With a win in Friday's matchup with Tulsa, East Carolina can essentially cement one of eight bids to the American Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship, slated for Nov. 22-24 inside Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan. It's going to be quite the race for those coveted spots as all 13 teams are still mathematically alive with four matches to go.

The Book On Tulsa
Tulsa (15-9, 7-5 AAC) dropped a home-and-home set with Wichita State last weekend, losing both matches 3-1 to slip back to fifth in the league standings. Always one of the best defensive clubs in the conference and the nation, the Golden Hurricane currently pace the AAC in both digs per set (17.14) and opponent hitting percentage (.171) and slot a respective 16th and 37th among Division I teams. Individually, Tytiana Johnson leads the league and is 25th nationally in blocks per set (1.35) while Marta Pecalli tops the circuit and is 32nd in the country in digs per set (4.80). Tulsa is 5-4 away from home with wins over Missouri State, Oral Roberts, UAB, Tulane and UTSA as well as losses to Baylor, Kansas, North Texas and Wichita State.

The Tulsa Series
Tulsa leads the all-time series with East Carolina 25-3 and has won eight of the last nine meetings. The Golden Hurricane took last season's lone encounter in five sets at the Reynolds Center. The Pirates defeated the Golden Hurricane 3-1 the last time the sides battled in Greenville (Nov. 6, 2022).

Examining South Florida
South Florida (14-9, 10-2 AAC) knocked off Florida Atlantic and Temple at home last weekend to stay tied with Rice for the top spot in the conference. The Bulls lead the league in assists per set (13.02) while sitting second in points per set (16.90), hitting percentage (.234) and kills per set (13.78). Maria Clara Andrade has been South Florida's offensive workhorse, pacing the AAC in kills per set (4.26). She also ranks second in points per set (4.71). Setter Caroline Dykes has dished out a conference-best 10.85 assists per set in the Bulls' 5-1 offense that has seen Naiya Sawtelle put up 3.55 kills per set - good for fourth in the league. Imani Hartfield also slots third in the conference in hitting percentage (.341). South Florida is 5-4 away from home with victories over Florida, Temple, Wichita State, Tulsa and North Texas to go along with losses to Florida State, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Atlantic and UTSA.

The South Florida Series
Following a 3-0 win over East Carolina back in September, South Florida leads the all-time series with the Pirates 15-9. The teams have split their last six meetings with ECU winning the two matchups at Minges Coliseum during that stretch.

1K/1K Club
More than halfway through her third collegiate season, Alderete is within striking distance of joining the prestigious 1,000 kill and 1,000 dig club at East Carolina. She requires just 61 digs to reach the milestone after collecting her 1,000th kill in the win over North Texas. The most recent member of the program to register the achievement is Bri Wood who collected 1,303 kills and 1,144 digs during her five seasons (2017-21) wearing the Purple and Gold. Aptly, Wood currently serves as ECU's Director of Student-Athlete Development and Life Skills.

Up Next
East Carolina welcomes in Charlotte to Minges Coliseum Wednesday, Nov. 13, for the Pirates' home finale. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.

East Carolina Begins Critical Homestand With Tulsa And South Florida

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Players Mentioned

Izzy Marinelli

Fran McBride

Carlia Northcross

Lara Uyar

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