Sept. 14, 2007

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The East Carolina volleyball team used 16 kills from senior Kelley Wernert and 12 from sophomore Melissa Zentner as the Pirates defeated George Washington 3-0 Friday evening in the second match of the George Washington Invitational inside the Smith Center. ECU climbs over the .500 mark for the first time this year with a record of 7-6 while the Colonials dip to 5-6 on the season.

George Washington jumped out to a 7-3 lead but the Pirates quickly responded with a 4-0 run to knot the score and force a Colonial timeout. ECU then scored eight of the next 10 points to induce George Washington's second timeout of the frame. The Pirates would cruise from there, closing out game one 30-15 to take a 1-0 match lead.

The teams traded points to begin the second game until ECU edged out in front 12-9. However, the Colonials would score three-straight points to tie the game and the teams would again match each other all the way to 20-20. The Pirates again creeped ahead 22-20 to force a timeout and would out-score George Washington 8-4 to take the frame 30-24 and a 2-0 advantage into the locker room.

Looking for its first sweep of the season, ECU never took a lead of more than three and in fact fell behind 23-21 late in the game. Reaching deep down, the Pirates finally shut the door with a 9-5 run to complete the three-game victory.

Zentner committed only two errors on 29 attempts to hit .345 while Wernert's 16 kills mark the 40th time in 44 matches that she has reached double-digits. Monroe added 15 digs to notch double-digits for the 12th time this season and Koop handed out a game total of 42 assists to take her over 400 for the year.

ECU will look to take a pair of matches Saturday to close out the George Washington Invitational 3-0. The Pirates will take on Howard at 12 p.m. while facing off against Hartford for the first time in school history at 5 p.m.