Sept. 12, 2009

Box Score

Wofford 3, East Carolina 1

East Carolina 3, Savannah State 0

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The East Carolina volleyball team netted two extremely different results Saturday, falling 3-0 to Wofford before recording a 3-0 triumph over Savannah State at the WSSU Lady Rams Invitational. With the split, the Pirates are an even 5-5 in the 2009 campaign.

ECU suffered its poorest offensive effort of the season against the Terriers, comitting 34 errors on 101 attempts for a percentage of -.119. Wofford also notched more kills (35-21), assists (30-23), digs (37-31) and blocks (8.0-4.0). Junior Lizzy Bruin paced the Pirates with eight kills, while senior Stephanie Turner contributed a team-best eight digs.

Wofford scored five of the first seven points in the first set to take a 5-2 lead and draw an East Carolina timeout. The Terriers then produced a 9-2 run to take command of the set 14-4. Down 20-7, the Pirates scored on four-straight rallies to pull within 20-11, but Wofford proved too much, closing down the frame at 25-14.

The Terriers again jumped out to an early lead in the second set, 7-3, but this time ECU rallied back to tie things at eight. Wofford would establish a three-point cushion at 11-8 and keep it until the Pirates again responded to tie the interval at 18. East Carolina eventually took leads of 22-20 and had a chance to capture the set at 24-22 and 25-24, but the Terriers had the answer each time, seizing control and the frame, 27-25.

Wofford commanded the third set from the beginning, establishing a 10-5 margin. The Terriers then pushed ahead 15-6, forcing a timeout from the Pirates. ECU had no response, however, as Wofford used a 10-5 run to end the match with a 25-11 victory.

The Pirates enjoyed a much more effective effort against the Tigers, scoring the first five points of the match to draw a timeout from the Savannah State sideline. East Carolina then kept the pressure on, pushing out to a 14-0 lead that forced the Tigers to use their last timeout of the frame. The Pirates scored once more before a service error let SSU score its first point of the match. The Tigers continued to struggle, as ECU went on to notch the 25-2 set victory, holding an opponent to its lowest single-set point total of the rally scoring era.

The Pirates went ahead 6-1 in the second set before SSU notched its first kill of the match. Continuing to dominate, East Carolina took leads of 14-5 and 20-8 on its way to a 25-10 set win.

The Tigers took their first lead of the match in the third set, pushing ahead 2-1 before the Pirates fought back with a 7-2 run to take an 8-4 lead. SSU would not threaten again, falling behind 18-8 before ECU shut down the contest with a 25-11 decision.

Sophomore Britney Roper led the offense with 10 kills while as a team, the Pirates notched 43 kills on 80 attempts with just eight errors for a sparkling .438 percentage. Senior setter Hannah Fenker distributed 37 assists, averaging just over 11 per set. Additionally, the Pirates recorded 11 aces while limiting the Tigers to just six team kills and a -.164 hitting percentage.

Bruin was named to the All-Tournament Team for her efforts during the WSSU Invitational.

East Carolina makes its first foray into Conference USA play next Saturday (Sept. 19), taking on Marshall at 1 p.m. at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, W.Va.