East Carolina advances to NIVC Super 16 with 3-1 victory over Winthrop

by | Dec 6, 2024

By ECUPirates.com

East Carolina turned up the heat after a close first-set loss Thursday evening, downing visiting Winthrop 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-19, 25-11) in the opening round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

The Pirates (19-9) advance to face UConn (25-7) in the Super 16 on Friday night at 6 p.m. The Huskies swept aside Mercer in Thursday’s first contest.

ECU spread the wealth offensively, finishing the day with five players who posted double-digit kills. Junior middle blocker Carlia Northcross was lights out, tying her career high with 11 kills and committing zero attacking errors to hit a sizzling .647. She added six blocks for good measure. Graduate right side Fran McBride, redshirt junior outside hitter Izzy Marinelli and sophomore outside hitter Ellie Pate all contributed 11 kills of their own while sophomore right side Aulie Huff was spectacular – notching 10 kills with no errors for a .526 hitting percentage to go along with four total blocks.

Called upon to play a little more defense than usual, freshman setter Taryn Gilreath certainly answered the bell as she logged a double-double of 25 assists and a career-high 15 digs. Pate also served the Purple and Gold well as a six-rotation outside with standout outside hitter Angeles Alderete injured, registering a personal best matching 13 digs to etch a double-double into the box score.

Avery Jolley paced the visiting Eagles (16-11) offensive with 17 kills while Isabella Murray chipped in with a double-double of 39 assists and 12 digs.

East Carolina shone in the critical second and fourth sets, hitting .318 and .429 respectively to notch .289 efficiency overall. The Pirates limited Winthrop to just a .133 clip as the Eagles piled up 29 attacking miscues and fell victim to 12 total ECU blocks. East Carolina also held the upper hand in service aces (7-4) and total digs (72-66).

The sides traded the lead back and forth in the opener before settling for a 15-15 deadlock. Jenna Calloway then put Winthrop on the front foot with a nice service run that resulted in four-straight Eagle points. Gilreath answered with a run of her own, serving four consecutive points to knot things up at 19. An attacking error by McBride afforded Winthrop set point at 24-22 but McBride put down a kill the very next play to keep the Pirates alive. ECU was able pull even at 24 following an Eagle miscue. However, Winthrop netted the final pair of points to grab an early edge in the match.

The Pirates struggled in the serve and pass game in the initial part of the second set, falling behind 13-7 and teetering close to the danger zone. East Carolina started to chip away, however, and put together an 8-2 run that tied the score at 15. Kills by Northcross and McBride put the Pirates ahead by two before the visitors responded with three of the next four points to draw even at 18. ECU refused to lose, ripping off five straight to seize control at 23-19 before a Payton Evenstad second-ball kill terminated the frame and sent the teams to the intermission all square.

The Pirates displayed a steely reserve again in the third stanza, finding themselves facing a 19-18 deficit. Unfazed, Marinelli saw East Carolina through to the end by sparking a 7-0 set-ending run from the service line as Huff had the final say with a kill.

With momentum securely on its side, ECU made quick work of the Eagles in the fourth. Another swing by Huff afforded the Pirates a 12-8 advantage before a Winthrop error made it 14-9. From there, East Carolina served the Eagles off the court in a match-ending 11-2 run capped by a McBride laser to the heart of the defense.

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