Sept. 19, 2012

Match Notes | Live Stats

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina volleyball team will hit the road for a Friday conference match-up with Southern Methodist University. The Pirates and Mustangs will square off at 8 p.m. (ET) at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas.

The Last Meeting

East Carolina	0
SMU	3

October 21, 2011
Dallas, Texas

SMU Dispatches East Carolina, 3-0 SMU 3, East Carolina 0 East Carolina reached the midpoint of Conference USA play Friday night, falling three sets to SMU at Moody Coliseum. The Pirates fall to 2-17 overall and 0-10 in the league while the Mustangs are now 9-13 and 5-5.

Recap | Box Score

The Pirates are coming off of a tough tournament swing in which they went 0-3 at the Pirate Invitational. ECU dropped a trio of close contests to conference foe Marshall (1-3), UMBC (1-3), and Coastal Carolina (2-3). In each match, the Pirates came up just short and are looking to get on the winning track this weekend.

East Carolina (1-11, 0-1 C-USA) and SMU (3-9, 0-0 C-USA) will meet for the tenth time in program history and the Pirates are looking to even the series at five matches apiece. The last time the two squads met, SMU swept ECU at Moody Coliseum. The Pirates’ last victory over the Mustangs came on Oct. 26, 2008, East Carolina defeated SMU in five sets at Minges Coliseum.

This season, ECU has been led by junior libero Shelby Beasley, junior Nicole Willis, and senior Kelly Derby. Beasley is coming off a weekend in which she was the lone Pirate named to the All-Tournament Team at the Pirate Invitational where she posted a team-leading 54 digs (4.15 digs per set). On the season, Beasley has accumulated 165 digs (3.75 digs per set), 12 assists, and 11 service aces. Willis has been on the offensive attack as she leads the squad with 120 kills (3.87 kills per set) and has added 93 digs, 16 total blocks, and 10 aces. Derby has been a solid presence for the Pirates this season as the senior middle hitter has amassed 63 total blocks to lead Conference USA in blocks per set (1.43). She has also posted 73 kills, 16 digs, six assists, and five service aces.