Friday, September 6
Greenville, N.C.
7:00 p.m.
East Carolina University
5-0,0-0AAC
3
vs
0
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Texas A&M University - Commerce
2-3,0-0Southland
1
2
3
F
Tex. A&M-Commerce
20
24
19
0
East Carolina
25
26
25
3
Pirates Take Care Of Lions In Three Sets
September 06, 2024 | Volleyball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina registered its third three-set victory of the season Friday night, downing Texas A&M-Commerce 25-20, 26-24 and 25-19 on day two of the Pirate Invitational inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
Western Carolina also defeated Commerce, taking the morning match in four sets before falling to North Carolina A&T 3-1 in a mid-afternoon affair. With a win over the Catamounts Saturday afternoon, ECU (5-0) can claim its first Pirate Invitational crown since 2019.
The Lions (2-3) hit a respectable .219 with 37 kills on 105 attempts, but East Carolina continued to hum along offensively itself as the Pirates put down 45 kills, also on 105 swings, to finish with a .286 hitting percentage. ECU also out-dug its visitor to the tune of 51-42 while both teams collected three total blocks.
Sophomore outside hitter Ellie Pate notched double-digit kills for the fourth-straight match, this time with 11. She committed just two attacking errors in 32 attempts to fire at a .281 clip. Senior libero Lara Uyar was stout along the back row, picking up a match-best 18 digs. Also of note, junior middle blocker Carlia Northcross – who entered the weekend fourth among American Athletic Conference players in hitting percentage, ended up at 1.000 after recording eight kills in eight tries with no errors. Avery Wilks paced Commerce with 11 kills and a .526 hitting mark.
Set One: The Lions did not back down against the home side, going kill-for-kill early on. Despite trailing 9-7, ECU dug down and began to chip away at the deficit and eventually pulled ahead 17-14 on a Jennings Hall tally. Commerce sliced the Pirate lead to a pair on a few occasions, but Fran McBride closed out the frame with a kill to give the Purple and Gold the initial match advantage.
Set Two: A Savannah Jennings bad set midway through the second saw East Carolina comfortably ahead at 15-10, but the Lions ripped off seven straight to claim the upper hand. With Commerce at set point leading 24-22, Pate put down a kill and McBride and Northcross teamed up for a block to knot the score and send the set into extras. A Lion attacking miscue and a Pate kill completed the Pirate rally and sent ECU into the intermission up 2-0.
Set Three: The Pirates were the first to double digits in the third when a McBride kill made the score 10-7. East Carolina would remain in front by five at the media timeout and never relinquished control. The lead grew to 20-14 and 22-16 before McBride tooled the Commerce block once again to end the contest.
Western Carolina also defeated Commerce, taking the morning match in four sets before falling to North Carolina A&T 3-1 in a mid-afternoon affair. With a win over the Catamounts Saturday afternoon, ECU (5-0) can claim its first Pirate Invitational crown since 2019.
The Lions (2-3) hit a respectable .219 with 37 kills on 105 attempts, but East Carolina continued to hum along offensively itself as the Pirates put down 45 kills, also on 105 swings, to finish with a .286 hitting percentage. ECU also out-dug its visitor to the tune of 51-42 while both teams collected three total blocks.
Sophomore outside hitter Ellie Pate notched double-digit kills for the fourth-straight match, this time with 11. She committed just two attacking errors in 32 attempts to fire at a .281 clip. Senior libero Lara Uyar was stout along the back row, picking up a match-best 18 digs. Also of note, junior middle blocker Carlia Northcross – who entered the weekend fourth among American Athletic Conference players in hitting percentage, ended up at 1.000 after recording eight kills in eight tries with no errors. Avery Wilks paced Commerce with 11 kills and a .526 hitting mark.
That is how we like game days in Minges!🏐 #gopirates pic.twitter.com/jp6UVx1KIw
— East Carolina Volleyball (@ECUVB) September 7, 2024
Set One: The Lions did not back down against the home side, going kill-for-kill early on. Despite trailing 9-7, ECU dug down and began to chip away at the deficit and eventually pulled ahead 17-14 on a Jennings Hall tally. Commerce sliced the Pirate lead to a pair on a few occasions, but Fran McBride closed out the frame with a kill to give the Purple and Gold the initial match advantage.
Set Two: A Savannah Jennings bad set midway through the second saw East Carolina comfortably ahead at 15-10, but the Lions ripped off seven straight to claim the upper hand. With Commerce at set point leading 24-22, Pate put down a kill and McBride and Northcross teamed up for a block to knot the score and send the set into extras. A Lion attacking miscue and a Pate kill completed the Pirate rally and sent ECU into the intermission up 2-0.
Set Three: The Pirates were the first to double digits in the third when a McBride kill made the score 10-7. East Carolina would remain in front by five at the media timeout and never relinquished control. The lead grew to 20-14 and 22-16 before McBride tooled the Commerce block once again to end the contest.
- ECU continued its best start to a season since the 2016 club put together a 10-0 record in non-conference play.
- The Pirates won their first-ever meeting with Texas A&M-Commerce.
- East Carolina has registered at least six service aces in every match this season.
- Transfer setter Mackenzie Jefferson logged three more aces and owns a team-high 10 (0.59) through five matches.
- Uyar has tallied double-digit digs in four-straight contests, raising her season average to 4.29 per set.
Team Stats
TAMC
ECU
Kills
37
45
Errors
14
15
Attempts
105
105
Hitting %
.219
.286
Points
43.0
54.0
Assists
35
43
Aces
3
6
Blocks
3
3
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
Right Side
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Right Side
/ VolleyballMiddle Blocker
/ VolleyballOutside Hitter
/ Volleyball
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