PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Facing a Temple side desperate for a win to increase its chances of securing a bid to the American Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship, East Carolina dealt a blow to those prospects by rallying for a 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 15-9) victory Friday night at McGonigle Hall.
ECU completed the season series sweep of the Owls while extending its winning streak over the Cherry and White to six (four straight in Philadelphia).
With its place in the tournament field cemented a few weeks ago, the Pirates (18-8, 11-5 AAC) ended the regular season by knocking off Charlotte and Temple (13-16, 5-10 AAC) to notch 11 league wins for the second-straight campaign. ECU heads to Wichita next week victorious in eight of its last 10 matches.
East Carolina also received a bit of good news Friday evening as both Wichita State and Tulsa suffered upsets to North Texas and UTSA respectively, unofficially handing the Pirates the No. 3 seed for the league tourney. The third-place finish is the highest ever for ECU in 11 seasons in the conference and tied for the best finish in any league in program history.
The Pirates turned up the volume in the fourth and fifth frames, hitting .351 while limiting Temple to .082 efficiency. The Owls finished with the upper hand in total kills (62-51) but committed a whopping 32 attack errors to let East Carolina win the percentage battle .252 to .169. ECU also logged advantages in digs (71-62), service aces (9-3) and total blocks (9.0-4.0).
Both sides put three players in double figures in the kill column as Sydney Jones paced Temple and all hitters in the match with 18. Ellie Pate registered a team-best 14 for the Purple and Gold to go along with 12 and 11 by Angeles Alderete and Fran McBride. Alderete turned in her 10th double-double of the season by adding a campaign-high 20 digs.
East Carolina found itself on the front foot in the opening set, leading 9-4 following an attacking error by the home side. The Pirates later grew the lead to 21-14 with a Pate kill before holding steady to win the stanza by three.
The Owls did just enough to win the second and third sets by the minimum two points, but ECU blitzed Temple in the fourth frame and took it by double digits. The teams battled to a 4-4 deadlock in the decider, though the Pirates eventually surged ahead and would not be denied. With East Carolina clinging to a 7-6 advantage, an Owl service error sparked a decisive 6-1 Pirate run that proved to be insurmountable for the hosts.
Up Next: ECU will find out its AAC Volleyball Championship quarterfinal opponent Sunday evening following the release of the tournament bracket.
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