ECU Faces Tuesday Test At South Carolina

Match 8: East Carolina at South Carolina
Coverage	Sept. 17 \| at South Carolina \| 6:30 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch
Venue	Carolina Volleyball Center (1,600) (Columbia, S.C.)
Match Notes	East Carolina \| South Carolina
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #ECUVB #NoQuarter

GREENVILLE, N.C. – ECU faces its sternest challenge of the 2024 campaign thus far Tuesday night in a non-conference contest at South Carolina. The Pirates look to keep their perfect record intact and keep pace with the 2016 squad for the best start in program history (10-0).

First serve inside the Carolina Volleyball Center is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the match will stream live via SEC Network Plus with Brett Williams and Paul MacDonald on the call.

ECU (7-0) was last in action Sept. 10 at Campbell, taking a two sets to none lead over the Camels before going the distance and hanging on for a 3-2 victory. Fran McBride led the offense with a career-high 16 kills while hitting .448. Angeles Alderete put down a season-best 13 kills to go along with 19 digs to complete her third double-double of the campaign. Lara Uyar paced the defense with a match-high 22 digs.

The Camels (2-5) struggled to hit in the positive as ECU limited the home side to .019 efficiency on 41 kills and 38 attacking errors in 162 attempts. The Pirates collected 54 kills and finished with a .193 hitting percentage while owning a 13.0 to 8.0 advantage in total blocks.

East Carolina is set to battle an opponent from the so-called power conferences on the road for the second-straight season, knocking off Virginia Tech 3-2 in Blacksburg back on Sept. 16, 2023. The Pirates are slated to face the nation's No. 1 team later this week when they tussle with Pitt Friday evening at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse. ECU also plays Marquette in Pittsburgh Saturday. The Golden Eagles are receiving votes in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll.

A Look At South Carolina
South Carolina sports a 7-2 overall record in advance of Tuesday evening's match after winning two of three at home over the weekend. The Gamecocks knocked off Florida International and Stetson in pair of four-set decisions Friday before falling to Wake Forest in four Sunday afternoon. Riley Whitesides paces the offensive efforts for South Carolina with 130 kills (4.19 per set) and a respectable .241 hitting percentage. Victoria Harris anchors the back row to the tune of 128 digs (4.13 per set). Collectively, the Gamecocks are hitting .239 while averaging 13.10 kills, 12.26 assists, 1.45 aces, 14.42 digs and 2.45 blocks per set. Tom Mendoza is in his seventh season as head coach at South Carolina and has guided the squad to three NCAA Tournament appearances. He arrived in Columbia following two years at High Point, registering 47 wins and a pair of NCAA Tournament bids.

The South Carolina Series
South Carolina leads the all-time series with East Carolina by an 8-2 count. The institutions have met just once in the sport of volleyball since 1983 - a 3-0 Gamecock victory back on Sept. 8, 2015 in Columbia. The Pirates seek their first win over South Carolina since securing a 2-1 result Oct. 5, 1979 at the South Carolina Invitational.

Among the National Leaders
As of Sept. 16, East Carolina is the national leader in opposing hitting percentage, holding its foes to .088 efficiency. The Pirates also slot 46th in hitting percentage (.256) as well as 48th in digs per set (15.92). Moreover, ECU is one of 16 NCAA Division I clubs yet to suffer a loss.

Alderete Tabbed AAC Preseason Player of the Year
Junior outside hitter Angeles Alderete was named the 2024 American Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year Aug. 26. The two-time All-AAC selection is the first player in program history to earn the accolade in any conference of which the Pirates have been a member. It is her second major accolade wearing the Purple and Gold as she was crowned the AAC Freshman of the Year in 2022. An All-AAC First Team honoree a season ago, Alderete led East Carolina in kills (376), kills per set (3.19), total digs (364), points (430.5) and points per set (3.65) while ranking second in service aces (32) and digs per set (3.08). She finished the campaign ninth among league players in kills per set and points per set and notched 15 double-doubles – including an 18-kill, 11-dig effort in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) first round sweep of The Citadel which marked the Pirates' first-ever postseason victory. Alderete racked up double-digit kills in 23 contests, putting up a season-best 19 in ECU's five-set triumph at Virginia Tech.

Pirates Slotted Fourth In AAC Preseason Poll
In addition to Alderete's recognition, East Carolina was selected fourth in the AAC Preseason Coaches Poll, garnering 106 points to slot behind league favorite Rice (136 points), Wichita State (127 Points) and South Florida (121 Points). The Pirates put together a 21-11 overall record and 11-8 AAC clip, ending up third in the East Division and tied for sixth overall on the conference table. ECU earned a postseason bid for the first time in program history, hosting the first and second rounds of the NIVC, while cementing its first 20-win season since 2017.

1K/1K Club
With only two collegiate playing seasons to her credit, Alderete is already within striking distance of joining the prestigious 1,000 kill and 1,000 dig club at East Carolina. She requires just 53 kills and 234 digs to reach both milestones. 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.

11th Season in The American
East Carolina is in its 11th volleyball season as a member of the American Athletic Conference after spending 13 years as part of Conference USA. The Pirates ended up in a tie for sixth place in the conference standings in 2023 - their highest overall finish in the league since taking fourth place in 2017. ECU also collected double-digit conference wins for the second time in The American by posting an 11-8 league record.

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Players Mentioned

Angeles Alderete

Fran McBride

Lara Uyar

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