East Carolina Falls At No. 1 Pitt In Three Sets

Friday, September 20

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

7-2,0-0AAC

Pitt

8-0,0-0ACC

East Carolina

Pittsburgh

September 20, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – With the start of American Athletic Conference play looming next weekend, East Carolina certainly provided itself with its toughest test to date Friday night, dropping a 3-0 (13-25, 23-25, 11-25) decision to the nation's top-ranked team in Pitt at the Fitzgerald Field House.

Friday night's affair marked the second time in program history that ECU has faced No. 1 with the last occurrence back on Sept. 3, 2011 versus Cal at the Jefferson Cup in Charlottesville, Va.

The Pirates (7-2) nearly handed the Panthers (8-0) their first set loss of the campaign, scrapping their way to a 23-22 lead in the second frame, but Pitt scored the final three points of the stanza before pulling away in the third set.

ECU was unable to slow down the Panther offense as the home side hit .378 on 42 kills while limiting the Pirates to .000 efficiency in the third set and a .134 overall mark. Pitt also held the upper hand in digs (33-24), service aces (6-3) and total blocks (9.0-8.0).

Ellie Pate and Fran McBride paced East Carolina with eight kills apiece while McBride finished the match hitting .286 and collected six blocks. Carlia Northcross also acquitted herself well against the nation's No. 1 squad, logging three kills, two aces and five total blocks to go along with a .600 hitting percentage. Last year's national freshman of the year and AVCA All-American Olivia Babcock lived up to the billing, registering 18 kills, five blocks and a .517 hitting clip.

Set One: The Pirates had the Panthers back on their heels in the contest's first handful of points as Northcross notched consecutive aces to put ECU ahead 8-6. However, Pitt tallied 14 of the next 17 points to pull ahead 20-11 before sealing the set by 12.

Set Two: East Carolina put together an impressive performance in the second stanza, outhitting its host .289 to .189 and racking up seven total blocks. With the Pirates trailing 12-7, Pate sparked a 5-0 run that allowed the Purple and Gold to draw even. Freshman Aleicea Watson kept the momentum going later in the proceedings with a solo stuff that put ECU in front 20-19 while Pate seemed to put the Pirates on the brink with a kill to make it 23-22, but errors plagued East Carolina in the final stretch as the Panthers won all three of the final points to win the frame by the slimmest of margins.

Set Three: ECU simply ran out of gas down the stretch. Pitt rang up a 7-2 lead following a Babcock kill, prompting an early Pirate timeout. Northcross put down a kill of her own to keep the Pirates within four at 9-5, but it was the Panthers' day as they raced to the finish and remained flawless in 2024.

Up Next: The Purple and Gold closes out the non-league portion of its schedule Saturday at 2 p.m. inside Fitzgerald Field House with another tough ask – this one versus former Conference USA opponent Marquette. The Golden Eagles are receiving the most votes of any team not ranked in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll.