After rallying late to win the first set, East Carolina found its rhythm and was never threatened on the way to knocking off Campbell 3-0 (26-24, 25-14, 25-19) in the opening match of the 2023 Pirate Invitational Thursday night inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
The Pirates (3-1) stifled the Camel (0-4) attack, forcing 19 errors and limiting the visitors to a .124 hitting percentage. ECU racked up 42 kills and hit .264 while also holding advantages in total digs (55-46) and service aces (6-2). East Carolina really flipped the switch in the second frame, committing just one error on 28 attempts with 15 kills to fire at a .500 clip, while siding out at 78 percent.
Freshman outside hitter Ellie Pate earned her first collegiate start and delivered with a 10-kill performance. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Izzy Marinelli, who entered the contest ranked among the top 10 in the American Athletic Conference in hitting percentage, enjoyed another fine effort to the tune of nine kills and a .273 offensive mark. Junior Lara Uyar donned the libero jersey for the final two stanzas and collected 11 digs to pace the back row while junior setter Payton Evenstad finished with 19 assists and eight digs.
Abbie Tuyo led Campbell with 10 kills while Claranne Fletcher picked up a match-high 14 digs.
American volleyball will return to tournament action on Friday, September 1 as teams compete around the country. No. 18 Rice will look to pick up their second Top 25 win of the season as they travel to Waco to take on the 16th-ranked Baylor Bears at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+. The full schedule can be found
here.