2017 ECU Volleyball Season In Review

GREENVILLE, N.C. – According to many outside of Greenville, the 2017 ECU volleyball season was supposed to be one marked by rebuilding and transition. The Pirates lost four seniors from the 2016 roster, all of which played significant starting roles for ECU.

Entering the fall, head coach Julie Torbett was tasked with replacing nearly 70 percent of the offensive production from the season prior. The coaches in the American Athletic Conference were wholly unconvinced that ECU would be able to accomplish that task, selecting the Pirates to finish 11th out of 12 squads in the league in the preseason poll. ECU made the 11th-place prediction irrelevant, finishing 13-7 in conference matches and alone in fourth place.

The season began with emphatic 3-0 home victories over William and Mary and Georgia State, but errors plagued the Purple and Gold in a tough four-set loss to Big Ten Conference member Rutgers in the tournament finale. ECU posted another two wins over Stetson and Bucknell in Florida the next weekend before returning home for its second home tournament.

ECU made its presence known from the first set of the league opener at UCF, pounding the Knights by a 25-16 score. Although the Pirates ended up dropping the match in five, they sent notice to the conference that they would not be an easy out for anyone. ECU responded in due fashion just two days later in Tampa, handing USF a four-set loss after the Bulls claimed the opening frame.

The Pirates returned home the next weekend, facing a tall task against two teams it had not defeated since joining the AAC in reigning league champion SMU and Tulsa. Backed by strong home crowd, as well as the ECU band, the Pirates pushed the Mustangs all the way to five sets before eventually falling in the decisive stanza. The Purple and Gold rebounded to knock off the Golden Hurricane 3-1 to leave its conference record at 2-2.

That triumph over Tulsa served as the catalyst for a six-match winning streak that saw ECU record its first-ever victory over Temple (in Philadelphia no less). During the stretch, the Pirates also knocked off Connecticut, Tulane, Houston and Memphis.

The Pirates kept up their strong play with a 3-0 victory on the road at N.C. Central and ECU recorded two impressive four-set victories over USF and UCF in Greenville to capture sole possession of fourth place in the AAC standings and clinch their first winning season since 2006.

Still in contention for the league's regular season championship, the Pirates then split a pair of home matches with No. 20 Wichita State and Memphis to stand at 19-10 overall and 10-6 in conference play heading into a road weekend at Houston and Tulane.

Looking to secure its first 20-win season since 2005, ECU fell behind two sets to none at Houston but got it together during the intermission to gut out a pair of two-point victories in sets three (25-23) and four (26-24). Buoyed by some strong efforts off of the bench, the Pirates completed the comeback and took the fifth set 15-10 to finally reach the elusive 20-win mark.

ECU then quickly turned its attention to a crucial two-match home and road series with travel partner Cincinnati. The Pirates had never beaten the Bearcats in Cincinnati but won the first two sets 25-22 and 25-19. After losing the next two, ECU found itself in yet another five-set tussle. Behind five blocks in the fifth frame alone, the Pirates won it 15-11 to push its win total to 21 and set up a showdown for fourth place back in Greenville.

On a day during which ECU celebrated its special five-member senior class, the Pirates would simply not be denied. ECU made quick work of Cincinnati 25-15, 25-21, 25-17 to end the regular season with 22 victories – the most in a single season since 1982.

With the load of success that occurred during the 2017 season, ECU took a giant leap towards the goal of establishing itself as one of the top teams in the AAC and the region. The Pirates finished just two matches back of second-place teams SMU and Temple and saw their RPI ranking improve 40 spots from last year up to 153.

ECU will miss the contributions this year's senior class made to the program, but the foundation is laid. AAC Freshman of the Year, setter Shelby Martin, returns next season along with stud sophomore libero Brandee Markwith and phenom right side Bri Wood. Once the team sprinkles in the signees that will arrive on campus during the upcoming spring and summer, the Pirates will be well positioned to work toward the program's next goal – postseason play.

2017 Team Accomplishments

• 22-11 overall record: Most wins in a single season since 1982 ... First 20-win season since 2005 ... First winning record since 2006.
• 13-7 American Athletic Conference record: Most-ever conference victories in a single season ... First winning league record since 2006.
• Fourth-Place finish in the American Athletic Conference standings: Highest finish in any league since 2000 ... Selected 11th in the AAC preseason poll.
• Final Regular Season RPI: 153 ... Improved nearly 40 spots from final ranking in 2016 (192).
• Finished the season with a No. 12 ranking in the Midwest Region according to the Rich Kern RPI (RKPI).
• Set Single-Season Top 10 program marks in: Assists (1,498/4th) ... Digs (1,986/4th) ... Hitting Percentage (.230/5th) ... Block Assists (434/5th) ... Kills (1,608/6th) ... Total Blocks (276.0/9th).
• Produced four 2-0 weekends in AAC play, including a road sweep of Temple and UConn.
• Completed season series sweeps of AAC opponents Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis and USF while beating Temple and UConn in the teams' only meetings.
• Defeated Temple for the first time in program history ... Downed Tulsa for the first time since joining the AAC ... Picked up first-ever win in Cincinnati.
• Won six-straight matches in conference play from Oct. 1-20 (Tulsa, Temple, UConn, Tulane, Houston and Memphis).
• Posted a .358 hitting percentage in 3-0 win at Memphis - the highest ever for the team in an American Athletic Conference match.
• Racked up a 9-4 non-conference record, improving to 45-18 in non-conference matches under head coach Julie Torbett.
• Posted a 13-7 record in home matches, winning the second-most home contests in a single season and the most since 1979.
• Won seven of nine home matches in AAC play, falling only to league champion Wichita State and second-place SMU (in five sets).
• Went 8-5 on the road, securing a winning record in road matches for the first time since 2006.

Individual Accolades
• Julie Torbett: Earned 400th career win in ECU's 3-0 victory over N.C. Central on Sept. 19 ... Is second among active AAC head coaches in career victories (415-365 career record) ... Became the program's all-time winningest head coach when the Pirates knocked off USF 3-1 in Greenville on Nov. 3.

• Natalie Montini: Named First-Team All-American Athletic Conference (1st First-Team selection since 2007) ... Ended her career with 330 total blocks, good for seventh in program history ... Racked up 118 blocks, the seventh most in a single season ... Her .341 hitting percentage is the fifth best in a single season ... Ranked third among league players in hitting percentage (.341). In conference matches, she was third in hitting percentage (.347) and 11th in kills per set (2.99) ... Compiled double-digit kills in 17 matches, including a career-high 19 in a 3-2 victory at Cincinnati – the Pirates' first-ever win in Cincinnati. She also posted a personal-best .542 hitting percentage at No. 21 Wichita State on Oct. 22, recording 15 kills on 24 attempts with two errors.

• Ashton Mares: Became the fifth player in program history to surpass 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs, ending her career with 1,013 and 1,056 respectively ... Finished with the eighth-most career kills and career digs in school history ... Posted double-digit kills in 13 matches and produced a team-best 10 double-doubles.

• Lael Ceriani: Led the Pirates in both kills (375) and kills per set (3.02) ... Finished third on the squad in both digs (268) and digs per set (2.16) ... Ranked 11th in the conference in both kills per set and points per set ( ... Recorded double-digit kills in 20 matches and turned in seven double-doubles ... Notched a career-high 22 kills against Winthrop and a personal-best 21 digs at Cincinnati.

• Brandee Markwith: Led the Pirates in both digs (616) and digs per set (5.01) ... Broke the program's single-season record for total digs ... Broke the program's single-match digs record with 40 against Gardner-Webb on Sept. 8 ... Her 1,064 digs currently put her seventh on the ECU career list ... Ranked second in the American Athletic Conference in total digs and fifth in digs per set ... Finished the season ranked 20th nationally in total digs and 38th in digs per set ... Posted double-digit digs in 30 matches, eclipsing the 20-dig mark 12 times.

• Toya Osuegbu: Led the Pirates in total blocks (140) and blocks per set (1.14) ... Ranked second in the league in total blocks and fourth in blocks per set ... Tallied a career-high 10 blocks in the 3-0 victory over Cincinnati in the season finale - the second-most blocks in a three-set match in American Athletic Conference history ... Notched a career-high 13 kills and hit .429 against SMU on Sept. 29.

• Shelby Martin: Named the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year (first time in any league in program history) ... Also tabbed to the All-American Athletic Conference Second Team ... Produced eight double-doubles and ended the season with the fourth-most assists among all setters in conference action (767) ... Fell just three kills shy of the first recorded triple-double in program history Sept. 29 against SMU, notching seven kills, 49 assists and 11 digs ... Distributed a career-high 50 assists in the Pirates' 3-1 home victory over UCF on Nov. 5) ... Enters her sophomore season with 1,084 assists, needing just 695 to break into the program career top 10 list.

• Bri Wood: Placed third on the squad in total kills (287) and kills per set (2.43) as a freshman ... Named the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week Oct. 9 ... Tallied double-digit kills in 12 matches ... Went off for a career-high 23 kills in a five-set win over Tulane on Oct. 13.

Players Mentioned

Lael Ceriani

Ashton Mares

Brandee Markwith

Shelby Martin

Natalie Montini

Toya Osuegbu

Bri Wood

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