East Carolina Drops Three Setter In Tampa

Sunday, September 29

Tampa, Fla.

2:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

8-4,1-1AAC

South Florida

6-7,2-0AAC

East Carolina

South Fla.

September 29, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)

TAMPA, Fla. – South Florida utilized an all-conference caliber performance from its workhorse Maria Clara Andrade Sunday afternoon to post a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-20) American Athletic Conference victory over East Carolina inside The Corral.

The Pirates (8-4, 1-1 AAC) emerged from a tough opening road weekend of league action with a split after handling Florida Atlantic in four sets on Friday. The Bulls (6-7, 2-0 AAC) added Sunday's result to yesterday's sweep of Charlotte to sit atop the conference standings after one round of play.

Missing a pair of lineup regulars in Carlia Northcross and Mackenzie Jefferson, ECU had a difficult time generating consistent offense as it registered just one kill in the second set and 28 for the match. South Florida amassed 41 kills on 116 attempts with 19 errors to post a .190 hitting percentage and limited the Pirates to .139 efficiency. The Bulls also owned the upper hand in aces (6-2) and digs (50-43) while East Carolina ended up with a 7.0-5.0 advantage in total blocks.

Andrade tallied a match-best 16 kills and hit .238 on 42 attempts, complimenting an eight-kill performance by Ally Cavanaugh. Ellie Pate paced the Purple and Gold with eight kills while Angeles Alderete and Fran McBride collected seven kills apiece. Lara Uyar anchored the back row and led all players in the contest with 17 digs.

Set One: A handful of early service errors by East Carolina helped South Florida build an early 9-6 advantage and prompt a Pirate timeout. ECU was able to tie things up a few times midway through the frame, but the Bulls were able to pull away late and win the opener by four.

Set Two: Despite building a 13-9 cushion in the second, the Pirates were unable to halt a big South Florida run that saw the hosts score nine of the next 10 points to assume an 18-14 lead. Later trailing 24-19, ECU capitalized on a string of USF attacking errors to pull within 24-23, but a kill by Naiya Sawtelle sealed the stanza for the Bulls and sent them to the intermission up two sets to none.

Set Three: It was another back and forth start in the third, but East Carolina was able to edge ahead 14-12 following a kill by Ekwe Anwah. South Florida took a timeout at that point and it paid dividends as the Bulls rattled off a 5-0 run to take a three-point lead. McBride sliced the deficit to 21-19 with a kill later in the frame. However, USF limited the Pirates to just one final point and completed the sweep.

Up Next: ECU returns home for the first time in almost a month next Friday (Oct. 4) when it welcomes in UTSA for an American Athletic Conference match. First serve from Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum is scheduled for 6 p.m.