Oct. 5, 2008

Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. - The East Carolina volleyball team concluded its weekend road trip with another tough loss. For the second consecutive match, the team had a 2-0 set lead and saw it turn into a 3-2 defeat. Today, the Pirates fell to UCF 3-2 (21-25, 20-25, 32-34, 18-25, 13-15) in Orlando, Fla., dropping the team's record to 11-9 and 1-4 in Conference USA action. With the victory, the Knights now stand at 12-6 and 4-1 in conference play.

To begin the match, the teams played it close and were deadlocked at six points before UCF pulled out to the 8-6 advantage. The Pirates then battled back to knot the score at 11 before gaining the 15-12 lead. The Knights next were the ones to fight back, and the set would be tied at 16, 17 and 19 before the East Carolina was able to gain the 21-19 lead. The Pirates then went on to win the set 25-21.

The second set again featured close action, as the score was 4-4 before the Pirates established an 8-4 lead. The Knights then battled back and cut the ECU lead down to two points at 12-10. East Carolina then won the next four points to grab the 16-10 lead. The Pirates would then lead 18-12 and 21-15 before winning the set 25-20.

In the longest set of the season, the third, neither team led by more than two points until UCF held a narrow 13-10 lead. The Pirates climbed their way back and tied the score at 16 points each before trailing again, 20-18. There was no quit in ECU, though, as the team stormed back and took a 24-22 lead, just one point away from sweeping the match 3-0. Back-to-back Knight kills, however, would force the 24-24 tie. East Carolina had four more match points, but just could not grab that one final point it needed. With the score 32-32, another pair of UCF kills gave the Knights the 34-32 victory.

Despite the tough loss in the third set, the Pirates jumped out to leads of 6-2 and 9-5 in the fourth set, only to see the Knights rally and tie the score at 12-12. UCF never looked back after that tie, as the Knights led 18-13 and 21-15 before closing out the set, 25-18.

Going into a fifth set for the fourth time in the last five matches, the Pirates trailed 8-5, but tied the match at 10 each before falling behind again, 13-11. ECU closed to within one point at 13-12 and 14-13, but a Jenny Heppert kill gave the Knights the 15-13 set and match victory.

On the day Stephanie Turner led the team with 16 kills, while Melissa Zentner (15), Erica Banning (11) and Amanda Lutzow (10) all reached double-figure kill totals. Turner also added 10 digs to pick up her second straight double-double. Trish Monroe led the team in digs with 19 and Banning paced the blocking with six, including two solos.

The Pirates return to action next weekend for a home stand beginning on Friday with a 7 p.m. match against Houston.