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Pirates Defeated By Cougars
Oct. 10, 2008
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina volleyball team trailed early and, despite multiple rallies, could not complete the comeback, as the team fell to Houston 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-21) on Friday night inside Minges Coliseum. East Carolina's record now moves to 11-10, 1-5 in Conference USA, and the Cougars improve to 11-7 and 3-2 in C-USA. The Pirates trailed early, 5-1, in the opening set before going on a run to close the score to within one point at 7-6. East Carolina could never force the tie, however, and Houston pushed its lead out to eight points at 19-11. ECU made a late rally and got to within six points, 24-18, before the Cougars got the final point on a Lucy Charuk kill, winning the set 25-18. For the set, Houston hit a whopping .486 as a team. Pirate leaders in the opening round of action were Amanda Lutzow with five kills (.417 attack percentage) and Trish Monroe with four digs. The second set again showed ECU getting down early, as the team trailed 9-1 to begin action. The Pirates then mounted a comeback and trimmed the Cougar advantage down to six points at 12-6 before forcing a Houston timeout. Following the break, the Cougars again extended their lead back to eight points, taking the 18-10 lead. ECU again battled back and cut the deficit to just five points at 22-17 and again at 24-19. It turned out to be too little too late, though, as a kill by the Cougars' Kinsey Cave gave the team the 25-19 victory. Lutzow added three more kills to her total during the set and Monroe picked up three more digs. Erica Banning tallied four digs of her own, while Lizzy Bruin added two block assists and Lutzow three of her own.
East Carolina avoided trailing quite so early in the third set, as the teams were tied 3-3. The Pirates could not keep the score knotted for long, however, as the Cougars pulled out to a 12-5 lead. The Pirates, for the third time in three sets, rallied and cut the deficit to just four points, at 15-11. The Cougars bounced back and regained a six point lead, just to see ECU rally again. The Pirates got as close as three points, at 20-17 and 24-21. Again, East Carolina could not force the tie and fell in the final set 25-21. On the night ECU was paced on offense by Lutzow's 12 kills and Hannah Fenker's 27 assists. Defensively, Monroe collected nine digs and Bruin and Lutzow finished with three blocks each. The Pirates head back to the court on Sunday for a match with another Texas school, Rice. First serve is scheduled for noon. |
