Pirates Fall At No. 25 North Carolina, 3-1

Sunday, September 21

Chapel Hill, N.C.

4:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

8-3,0-0American

North Carolina

7-2,0-0ACC

East Carolina

North Carolina

September 21, 2025 | Volleyball

Box Score

Chapel Hill, N.C. — Sydney Buchanan had a team-high 11 kills but East Carolina dropped its second straight match as the Pirates fell in four sets to No. 25 North Carolina (15-25, 25-23, 20-25, 18-25) on Sunday afternoon at Carmichael Arena.

Brooklyn Allison recorded a season-high 25 digs for the Pirates (8-3) who could not overcome slow starts in the first and fourth sets.

Chelsea Thorpe led the Tar Heels (7-2) with a match-high 22 kills.

The Tar Heels raced out to a 6-1 lead in the first set, forcing the Pirates to burn one of their timeouts early. The Purple and Gold settled in as the set progressed, using a 4-0 run to trim a 16-7 deficit to just 16-11 and force North Carolina to use one of its timeouts. UNC snapped the Pirates' scoring run after an extended rally led to a kill from Hampton. Despite some strong rallies from ECU's defense, the Tar Heels' attack was too strong in the first set with Carolina tallying 19 kills compared to the Pirates' six.

ECU jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in the beginning of the second set after a block from Taryn Gilreath and Carlia Northcross to force an early timeout from the Tar Heels. ECU stretched its lead to 16-8 but North Carolina responded with a 4-0 run to pull within four points and force a Pirates timeout. The Pirates kept control of the set but did sweat out the set point as UNC closed the gap to 24-23 with a 3-0 run before a kill from Northcross stopped the Heels' rally.

North Carolina led from start to finish in the third set with the Pirates never threatening until back-to-back errors from the Tar Heels allowed the Pirates to close within three points, but Carolina scored on a kill and an attack error from ECU to end the set.

After UNC took a 6-2 lead to start the fourth set, ECU clawed back into the set after Aulie Huff's kill made it 10-9. North Carolina responded with a 7-0 run that would prove to be the final blow for the Pirates as the Tar Heels finished off the set and the match.

Up Next
East Carolina begins American Conference play next weekend on the road, facing South Florida on Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.