Nov. 13, 2005

Box Score

ECU 3, UAB 1
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GREENVILLE, N.C.- Sophomores Kelley Wernert and Mignon Dubenion combined for 31 kills as East Carolina won their fifth straight Conference USA match with a 3-1 win over UAB Sunday afternoon inside Minges Coliseum. The Pirates, who have now concluded their regular season C-USA schedule, finished 9-6 in the league play, the school's best regular season record since joining the league in 2001.

ECU (18-10) finished with four hitters in double-figures, led by Wernert's 16 and Dubenion's 15. Wernert, who has reached double-digit kills in 12 of the last 14 matches, led the Pirates while Dubenion hit a team-best .464, committing just two errors on 28 attack attempts. Senior outside hitters Pam Ferris and Erica Wilson also played well offensively, finishing with 14 and 12 kills respectively. Setter Heidi Krug tallied 50 assists, reaching that mark for the 13th time this season. Libero Trish Monroe had another solid game defensively, collecting 16 digs while Johanna Bertini finished with double-digit kills for the second match in a row, finishing with 12. Jaime Bevan, who picked up six of her seven kills in the first game, led the Pirates with one solo block and three block assists while Krug and Dubenion each added three assists.

UAB (14-12, 5-10 C-USA) also had four players in double-figure kills with Aleksandra Vujovic, Casey Dent and Ivana Bozic all recording 14 while Isabel Oquenda collected 13. Setter Nevena Stefanov lead the Blazer offense with 52 assists while also tallying four kills, four digs and block assists. Nicole Bowland led the defense with 11 digs while Bozic and Vujovic each added 10. Shaniquwa Cooper, who recorded four kills on the day, led UAB with seven block assists

Game one went back and forth before ECU claimed a 30-23 win to take the early lead. The Pirates jumped out to an 11-4 lead before UAB went on a 16-5 run, giving the Blazers a 20-16 lead before ECU bounced back, winning 14 of the next 17 points to take the seven-point victory. In addition to Bevan's six kills in game one, Wilson added four while Monroe picked up seven digs. The Blazers tied the match up with a convincing 30-20 win in game two, taking advantage of 10 Pirate errors. UAB hit .324 while ECU hit -.097 in game two with Dent and Vujovic combining on nine kills. Dubenion and Ferris recorded six and five kills respectively and Bertini tallied half of her total digs in the third game as ECU went back on top with a 30-19 win. Wernert and Oquendo led their respective teams in the fourth and final game with seven kills as both teams hit over .400 and Krug recorded a game-high 18 digs as ECU won 30-26 to clinch the victory.

The Pirates will play one final regular season match at home against in-state rival and former C-USA foe Charlotte Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. inside Minges Coliseum before heading to Houston, Texas for the 2005 Conference USA Volleyball Tournament, Nov. 17-20. ECU, currently ranked fifth in conference coming into the day, awaits the outcome of remaining C-USA matches Sunday before the tournament seedings will be determined.

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