Sunday, November 6
East Carolina 3, Tulsa 1 – Box Score
UCF 3, Memphis 0 – Box Score
Wichita State 3, Temple 1 – Box Score
SMU 3, South Florida 0 – Box Score
Cincinnati 3, Tulane 1 – Box Score
Recaps
East Carolina 3, Tulsa 1 – Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina snapped a seven-match losing streak Sunday afternoon, defeating Tulsa 3-1 (25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 25-15) in an American Athletic Conference contest inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
The Pirates (9-17, 4-10 American) notched just their third-ever victory over the Golden Hurricane (11-14, 4-9 American) and first since 2017. ECU also matched its overall win total from last season with six outings remaining in the campaign.
Angeles Alderete produced her eighth 20-kill effort of the season and third in the last four games with a match-high 22, adding 11 digs for her team-best 13th double-double while also hitting .362. She now has 402 kills for the year, putting her ninth on the program's single-season top-10 list. Izzy Marinelli notched 14 kills of her own and finished with a .250 hitting percentage. Payton Evenstad enjoyed a solid performance as well, twirling a double-double of 23 assists and 13 digs. Defensively, Kenzie Beckham posted 19 digs while Carlia Northcross racked up six blocks.
Kayley Cassaday, the nation's leader in attempts, recorded 15 kills on 61 swings with 10 errors to end up with a .082 hitting percentage for Tulsa.
East Carolina limited its miscues on the offensive end, piling up 57 kills on 128 attempts with 16 errors for a .320 hitting percentage. The Golden Hurricane fired at a .156 clip, committing 22 errors. Tulsa entered the day as the nation's top squad in digs per set, but the Pirates were the far better team in the statistic, out-digging the Golden Hurricane 69-50. ECU also held a sizable advantage in total blocks by an 11.0 to 2.0 margin.
The Pirates got off to a bright start, leading 12-3 after a Julianna Askew ace. Tulsa fought back to draw within 19-14, but East Carolina scored four of the next five points to pull away. The second set was much of the same as ECU used an 8-3 run to end the stanza and take a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
After the Golden Hurricane rallied for a set-three victory, the Pirates got off to a 9-6 lead in the fourth thanks to a kill by Alyssa Finister. With the score still tight at 11-9, East Carolina rattled off eight of the next nine points to establish an insurmountable advantage. ECU would score the final three points of the afternoon to seal the victory.
UCF 3, Memphis 0 – Box Score
ORLANDO, Fla.— The No. 24 UCF volleyball team (21-1, 13-1 American) completed a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-20, 25-12) over Memphis (17-10, 7-7 American) on Sunday in The Venue.
UCF and Memphis started off trading points back and forth in the first set. The Knights were able to break away as they went on a 3-0 scoring run to take the lead 11-8. UCF ran with the lead to end the set 25-23. The Black and Gold recorded an astounding 20 kills in set one.
The Knights went on a 4-0 scoring run early in the set to take the lead 7-3. UCF rallied through another 4-0 scoring run with back-to-back kills from Heidi Bonde. A kill from Abby Hansen followed by a block with Amber Olson put an end to set two as the Knights won 25-20.
After a few back-and-forth ties to start off set three, the Knights took off on a 6-0 scoring running with Olson and Hansen igniting the run with a block. McKenna Melville delivered back-to-back-to-back kills for the Knights starting at 21-11. Hansen polished off the match with back-to-back kills to take the sweep 25-12.
Bonde and Melville each recorded 13 kills on the day. Hansen followed shortly behind by adding in 10 kills and five blocks.
Olson tallied up 15 digs and 38 assists while Chloe Scheer added in 13 digs and two aces.
Wichita State 3, Temple 1 – Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Natalie Foster led all scorers with 16 kills and Wichita State recovered from a third set stumble to roll past Temple 25-13, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20 on Sunday afternoon at McGonigle Hall.
The Shockers (13-11, 8-5 American) made quick work of the first two sets, leading from start to finish in the first and grabbing an advantage after the ninth point in set two they did not relinquish. Wichita State hit a robust .345 in the opening frame, as the surging trio of Foster, Brylee Kelly and Sophia Rohling each had at least three kills and hit .400 or better. Three aces right out of the gate gave the Shockers an 8-0 lead, and the Owls (9-16, 3-11 American) never got closer than six the rest of the way. Morgan Weber was a standout defensively in the set, recording three blocks.
The combination of Kayce Litzau and Foster carried the Shockers in the second set, with the junior setter dishing out 11 assists, six of which resulted in Foster kills. Two big service aces late in the frame from Weber swelled the WSU advantage to 20-14 after a mini-Temple run, and Morgan Stout put the finishing touches on the set with a solo block.
Temple took control late in the third set, turning a 19-19 tie into a 23-19 advantage with four straight points. WSU tried to battle back after a service error and a Rohling kill, but an Owls block and a kill from Peyton Boyd kept Temple alive heading into the fourth stanza.
Wichita State unleashed the full brunt of their offensive firepower in the deciding fourth, hitting a match-best .414 while committing just one attack error. Rohling had five kills to lead the way, and Weber chipped in three. The key sequence came early in the set, as Temple had surged to a 10-5 lead that prompted a WSU timeout. Out of the break, Wichita State scored six quick points to take the lead, and the Owls did not grab the advantage back the rest of the match. Four Owls service errors down the stretch preserved the lead, and Kelly eventually slammed the door with an emphatic kill to secure the win.
Kelly finished just one kill shy of another double-double, notching nine terminations and 11 digs, while Rohling continued her strong play with 14 kills on a .323 attack percentage. Litzau had 37 assists, 13 digs and three aces, and Weber and Lara Uyar tied to the team high with 14 digs.
SMU 3, South Florida 0 – Box Score
TAMPA, Fla. – SMU corralled South Florida 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-22) in American Athletics Conference action at the Yuengling Center Sunday.
The Mustangs ran off the final three points of game three to complete the sweep. Knotted at 22-all after a service error by the Bulls, Kaitlyn Knobbe and Celia Cullen pushed SMU for the final time. Following a Jadyn Bauss kill, Knobbe posted the final marker, securing the 10th straight-set victory of the season.
SMU jumped out to a 9-4 lead and extended it out to 22-14, before holding off a furious run by the Bulls in the opening set. USF ran off five points and closed to within three at 22-19, before kills by Natalie Perdue and Jamison Wheeler handed the guests five set points. After squandering the first two chances, the Bulls gift wrapped the final tally for the Mustangs with a service error.
In a nip-and-tuck affair in the middle game, the Mustangs needed three points to double their margin at two games to none. However, USF appeared poised to even the contest at 1-1, after a 6-1 spurt nudged the home side in front 24-23. After a stoppage in play by SMU, the Bulls committed a trio of miscues, which resulted in a 26-24 triumph by the visitors.
Cincinnati 3, Tulane 1 – Box Score
CINCINNATI, Ohio – The University of Cincinnati volleyball team defeated Tulane in four sets on Sunday afternoon in Fifth Third Arena.
The Bearcats (7-17, 5-9 American) earned the season sweep of the Green Wave. UC has now won five straight against Tulane.
Cincinnati's attacking trio of Shaye Eggleston, Carly Glendinning and Abby Walker combined for 45 kills in the win. Eggleston recorded a season-high 18 kills at an impressive .429 hitting percentage. She added 11 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.
Glendinning notched 16 kills, five digs and three blocks while Walker finished with 11 kills, two aces and two digs.
Freshman setter Caroline Endres dished out 44 assists to go along with nine digs, three aces and two blocks. She guided UC to a .311 hitting percentage (58-16-135).
Defensively, redshirt senior Kailea Carrier tied her career-high six blocks to go along with six kills at a .500 clip. Seniors Payton Frederick and Kerstin Ficker combined for 21 digs.