ECU Meets No. 1 Pitt and Marquette In Pittsburgh

Matches 9-10: East Carolina at No. 1 Pitt \| vs. (RV) Marquette
Coverage	Sept. 20 \| at Pitt \| 7:00 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch Sept. 21 \| vs. Marquette \| 2:00 p.m. \| Live Stats
Venue	Fitzgerald Field House (4,122) (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Match Notes	East Carolina \| Pitt \| Marquette
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #ECUVB #NoQuarter

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina tests itself against two of the nation's best sides this weekend when it travels to Pittsburgh for matches versus No. 1 Pitt and (RV) Marquette.

The Pirates battle the host Panthers Friday night at 7 p.m. in a contest that will stream live on ACC Network Extra before wrapping things up Saturday at 2 p.m. against the Golden Eagles.

ECU (7-1) looks to bounce back from its first loss of the campaign – a three-set decision to South Carolina Tuesday night in Columbia. The Pirates were unable to slow the Gamecocks' offense as South Carolina hit .507 with 46 kills.

Ellie Pate put down a team-best nine kills while Fran McBride continued her strong campaign by hitting .500 with seven kills in 12 attempts with no errors. Taryn Gilreath experienced her first collegiate action in the Pirates' 6-2 offense, tallying eight assists and two digs. The Gamecocks' Riley Whitesides paced all players with 18 kills while hitting .615 and adding six digs.

Despite the setback, East Carolina still ranks sixth nationally in opposing hitting percentage (.122) while also leading the American Athletic Conference in team hitting percentage (.248) and sitting second in assists per set (11.96). Junior middle blocker Carlia Northcross paces the league in hitting percentage (.500) and is seventh in blocks per set (1.00).

A Look At Pitt
Pitt rolls into Friday night's match with a spotless 7-0 record and has not dropped a set to any opponent thus far. The Panthers have swept three ranked opponents in then No. 10 Oregon, then No. 23 USC and current No. 3 Penn State. Torrey Stafford and Olivia Babcock sport kills per set averages of 4.75 and 4.20 respectively to spark a Pitt offense that is hitting .342 collectively. The Panthers slot second nationally in opposing hitting percentage (.103) as well as third in aces per set (2.44) and hitting percentage. Dan Fisher is in his 12th season as head coach at Pitt, leading the club to five Atlantic Coast Conference Championships and the program's first fourth NCAA Elite Eight appearances as well as three NCAA Division I Final Four appearances.

The Pitt Series
East Carolina and Pitt have never met in the sport of women's volleyball. The last time the Pirates faced off against the No. 1 team in the nation was all the way back on Sept 3, 2011 when Cal swept ECU 25-18, 25-17, 25-18 at the Jefferson Cup in Charlottesville, Va.

About Marquette
Marquette is 3-4 overall thus far in 2024, but has played an extremely tough schedule that includes Stanford, Kansas, Western Kentucky and Dayton. The Golden Eagles own victories over WKU and Dayton while most recently dropping a four-set decision to current No. 8 and in-state rival Wisconsin in Madison. Marquette is receiving the most votes of any team outside of the AVCA Top 25 this week. Aubrey Hamilton boasts a team-high 88 kills (3.26) while setter Yadhira Anchante averages a squad-best 10.41 assists per set to along with a 3.26 digs per set mark. Collectively, the Golden Eagles are firing at a .227 offensive clip and are putting up 16.48 digs per frame.

The Marquette Series
East Carolina is 0-4 versus Marquette in the all-time series between the programs. All four meetings occurred between 2001 and 2004 when both institutions were members of Conference USA.

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 51 kills and 229 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.

Up Next
East Carolina begins its quest for one of the eight available spots in the reincarnated American Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship when it heads to the Sunshine State for a pair of matches versus Florida Atlantic (Sept. 27) and South Florida (Sept. 29).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Angeles Alderete

Taryn Gilreath

Fran McBride

Carlia Northcross

Ellie Pate

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