East Carolina Thumps Western Carolina In Three To Win Pirate Invitational Title

Saturday, September 7

Greenville, N.C.

3:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

6-0,0-0AAC

Western Carolina

1-5,0-0SoCon

Western Caro.

East Carolina

East Carolina Thumps Western Carolina In Three To Win Pirate Invitational Title

September 07, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Though much tougher tests lie ahead in the coming weeks, East Carolina has handled things in an appropriate fashion over its first two weekends of play. Led by Pirate Invitational MVP and graduate student right side hitter Fran McBride, ECU cruised to a 25-20, 25-13, 25-16 sweep of Western Carolina Saturday afternoon inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum to complete its unbeaten run through the tournament.

The Pirates (6-0) continue to keep pace with the 2016 squad's 10-0 unbeaten start to that campaign and have dropped just two of their 20 sets played. East Carolina also claimed its first Pirate Invitational crown since 2019.

McBride was sensational during the three-match event, averaging 2.78 kills and 1.00 blocks per set while hitting .377 with just five attacking errors in 53 attempts. In Saturday's affair, she put down a match-best 13 kills with no errors in 19 swings to end up with a .684 hitting percentage. McBride also added four blocks (one solo) for good measure.

Sophomore outside hitter Ellie Pate fell just one kill short of a double-double, tallying nine of them to go along with 13 digs. Senior libero Lara Uyar anchored the back row once again with 17 digs. Junior middle blocker Carlia Northcross continued to serve as a force at the net, registering seven kills and five blocks as well as a .500 hitting percentage. Ali Morris paced the Catamounts (1-5) with seven kills and 10 digs.

Though ECU was its usual solid self offensively, hitting a collective .255 with 42 kills, the defense and blocking really carried the load in the tournament finale as the Pirates enjoyed a 67-46 advantage in digs and racked up nine total blocks. That stout effort limited Western Carolina to .017 offensive efficiency and just 23 kills.

Tournament winning mood! 😎#GoPirates pic.twitter.com/bGJkm4JhnV
— East Carolina Volleyball (@ECUVB) September 7, 2024

Set One: East Carolina took a little bit of time to break free in the opening frame, but with the score knotted at 10, McBride terminated a volleyball to spark a 5-2 Pirate run that put the Purple and Gold ahead by three at the media timeout. The Catamounts were able to draw within one at 17-16 via an ECU attacking error before the Pirates restored order and ended the set on an 8-4 run to grab the early match advantage.

Set Two: Though East Carolina hit just .158 in the second stanza, Western Carolina struggled mightily – firing at a negative percentage (-.154) with a paltry three kills in 39 attempts. The Pirates never trailed after tying the score at four early on and led by as much as 21-9 late in the proceedings on the way to a dominant 12-point victory and a 2-0 match cushion.

Set Three: Determined to collect its fourth sweep of the campaign, ECU put it all together in the third stanza and never faced a deficit as the period featured just one tie score and a lone lead change. A kill by Logan Carr kept the visitors within reach at 6-4 but the Pirates started to quickly pull away. McBride notched her penultimate kill of the afternoon to afford East Carolina an insurmountable 15-7 advantage at the media timeout and Western Carolina later attempted to stop the momentum with a timeout trailing 20-12, however, the final result was never in question as McBride finished the job with a thunderous swing that seemingly put a dent in the floor.

East Carolina improved to 3-5 in the all-time series with Western Carolina as the teams met for the first time since 2015.
The Pirates have registered three consecutive sweeps for the first time since a stretch of the 2023 campaign that saw ECU turn aside UNC Greensboro, Campbell and Bethune-Cookman from Aug. 26-Sept. 1.
East Carolina last claimed a regular season tournament championship without dropping a set in 2013 when it defeated North Carolina Central, Gardner-Webb and host Elon at the Elon Phoenix Classic.
The Pirates have recorded more kills and have out-hit their opponents in all six matches this season. Moreover, only one team has hit better than .157 (Texas A&M-Commerce/.219).
Though she fell just one kill short of extending her double-digit streak to five, Pate raised her kills per set average to a team-best 2.95 and is one of four ECU players with at least 45 kills to their credit.

Up Next: East Carolina continues its non-conference schedule Tuesday evening by making the brief trip over to Buies Creek for an appointment with Campbell. First serve inside Gore Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m.

2024 Pirate Invitational All-Tournament Team
Kitana Tuufuli - Texas A&M-Commerce
Bailey Hartsough - Western Carolina
Tyne Ross - North Carolina A&T
Hannah Howell - North Carolina A&T
Carlia Northcross - East Carolina
Lara Uyar - East Carolina

Tournament MVP: Fran McBride - East Carolina