Oct. 12, 2007

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Despite a whopping 30 kills from senior Kelley Wernert, which allowed her to break the school career record, the East Carolina volleyball team fell victim to a late Memphis rally, dropping the match 3-2 on Friday night inside Minges Coliseum. The Pirates fall to 12-10 overall and 3-4 in conference play while the Tigers improve to 16-7 on the year and 5-2 in C-USA.

Memphis raced out to a 12-9 lead early but ECU overtook them at 14-13 and did not look back, scoring the final 16 of 24 points to record a 30-21 win in the frame and take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Pirates led in the beginning stages of the second game 8-5 but a 4-2 run by the Tigers forced East Carolina to take a timeout. It was ineffective as Memphis eventually took the lead at 14-13. The Tigers held the Pirates at arm's length the rest of the frame, taking a 30-24 win to tie the match.

East Carolina grabbed hold of game three 8-6 and did not let go as they took leads of 14-6, 22-12 and 28-18 on its way to a convincing 30-20 win the frame and a 2-1 contest lead.

Looking to send the 527 fans inside Minges home happy, the Pirates forced a quick Memphis timeout leading 7-3. The Tigers would eventually tie the game at 17 but ECU went on an 8-5 run to take a 25-22 advantage. Memphis scored the next three points to tie the game at 25 and fended off the Pirates 30-28 to send the match to a decisive fifth game.

East Carolina held the upper hand 6-3 and looked to put more distance between them and the Tigers but an attack error let Memphis back into the game and proved to be a turning point as the road team out-scored the Pirates 9-5 to close out the frame and the contest.

ECU's offense was led by Wernert's record-breaking night as she also recorded a double-double with 10 digs. Fellow senior Mignon Dubenion and sophomore Peyton Thompson also turned in double-digit efforts, tallying 12 and 11 kills respectively. Junior Trish Monroe dug up 19 balls to lead three Pirates in double digits as freshman Katie Koop recorded 10 along with Wernert. Koop completed the double-double as she handed out 58 assists. Sarah Bury led four Tigers in double-digit kills with 22 and Christine Bach paced the defense, notching 23 digs.

The teams produced almost identical numbers as the Tigers edged East Carolina in kills (75-73), hitting percentage (.270-.264) and digs (61-60). The Pirates recorded four more attempts (178-174) and two less errors (28-26). ECU lost its third five-game contest in conference play.

The Pirates return home Sunday, concluding their four-game homestand, as they take the defending C-USA champion UAB Blazers. First serve is set for 1 p.m. inside Williams Arena.

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