Volleyball Wins Thriller At ECU

Sunday, October 27

Greenville, N.C.

11 am CT

University of Memphis

14-8, 3-7AAC

ECU*

15-8, 3-7AAC

Memphis

East Carolina

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Oct 27, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Flowers' 21 kills, Bianco's double-double lead the Tigers to victory.

GREENVILLE, N.C. – University of Memphis' Hannah Flowers knocked down a match-high 21 kills and Sabrina Bianco added a double-double of 46 assists and 12 digs to lift the Tigers to a thrilling 3-2 win over ECU in Minges Coliseum Sunday.

Memphis won the match by scores of 17-25, 25-15, 25-17, 19-25 and 15-13. With the win, the Tigers improved to 14-8 overall and 3-7 in the league. ECU fell to 15-8 overall and 3-7 in the conference.

Flowers' 21-kills performance was the fourth 20-plus kills match of her career. She posted a career-high 22 kills in the Oct. 18 win over Connecticut.

Bianco recorded her eighth double-double of the season and the 14^thof her career.

Up Next
The Tigers return home to host SMU and USF in American Athletic Conference play next weekend. Memphis faces the Mustangs Friday at 7 p.m. (CT) and then welcomes the Bulls Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT). Both matches are at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, and admission is free.

Tigers Tidbits

Sunday's meeting was the only regular-season encounter between the two schools. From 2014-18, Memphis and ECU played twice (home and away) each season.
Sunday's match was the sixth time in the last 11 encounters the two rivals went five sets. Memphis is 4-2 against ECU in those five-set matches.
Hannah Flowers went over the 900-kills milestone for her career. After her 21 kills Sunday, the junior right side hitter now has 912 for her career.
Gigi Crescenzo collected a career-high 17 digs versus ECU Sunday. Her previous-high was 15 digs three times earlier this season. The double-figures digs match was her ninth of the season.
Sabrina Bianco had 46 assists Sunday for her 13^th40-assists match of her career. Twelve of the 13 performances have come this season.
Sunday's match was the 34^thdouble-figures digs match of Gehler's career and her 16^thof the season. Gehler has posted double-digit digs in 14 of the Tigers' last 15 matches. Gehler now has 702 career digs.
Freshman Mia Migliore collected 11 digs in Sunday's match. It was her seventh double-digit digs performance of the season and her first in conference play.

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	ECU Leaders
Kills	Hannah Flowers, 21	Bri Wood, 17
Assists	Sabrina Bianco, 46	Marissa Harmon, 21
Digs	Gigi Crescenzo, 17 Kaitlyn Gehler, 17	Brandee Markwith, 19
Aces	Kaitlyn Gehler, 3	Shelby Martin, 1
Blocks	Jada Birkel, 3	Toya Osuegbu, 10

First Set

The Pirates grabbed the early 10-3 lead and never trailed in the set.
ECU extended its advantage to 10 points at 18-8.
The Tigers closed to within six at 21-15 on Kaitlyn Gehler's and Hannah Flowers' service games. Each had one ace on her serve.
The Pirates regained the momentum and took the set 25-17.

Second Set

Memphis turned the tables in the second set and took the early lead at 8-3.
Flowers paced the run with three kills.
The Tigers remained in the lead after a Meredith Wallace kill gave them a 13-9 lead.
Memphis was still in the lead at 16-12 when the Tigers went on a run to put the set out of reach.
The Tigers closed the set on a 9-3 spurt to win 25-15.
Memphis won off six-straight points off Gigi Crescenzo's serve in the run.
A Wallace kill wrapped up the set for the Tigers.

Third Set

Memphis came out strong again in the third set, grabbing a lead it never lost.
The Tigers went up 11-3 on four Flowers kills and two Gehler aces.
Memphis still held a seven-point advantage at 17-10 when ECU made a run.
The Pirates went on a 4-1 spurt to pull to within four at 18-14.
The Tigers answered with a 7-3 run to close the set with a 25-17 win.
Crescenzo started the set-ending run with a kill and downed two more in the spurt.

Fourth Set

Although ECU took an early 7-3 lead, the fourth set went back-and-forth.
The Tigers used a 6-2 run to knot the set at 9-all on a Flowers kill.
The score was tied four more times over the set's next 10 points.
Memphis pushed out to a 17-15 lead, but ECU responded with a major run to take the set.
The Pirates finished off the set on a 10-2 spurt for the 25-19 victory.

Fifth Set

ECU carried its momentum from the end of the previous set into the last one, running out to a 3-0 lead.
The Pirates led 4-1 when Memphis got back in the set.
The Tigers used a 7-1 run to take an 8-5 advantage.
Wallace started the spurt with a kill and then served the next four Memphis points.
Flowers finished off the run with back-to-back kills.
ECU answered and tied the set at 9-all.
The set was tied at 10-all and 11-all, but then Memphis edged into the lead.
A Wallace block and a Jada Birkel ace gave Memphis a 13-11 lead.
An ECU service error put the Tigers on the doorstep of match at 14-12.
After a Pirates' kill pulled them to within 14-13, Wallace downed her 17^thkill for the 15-13 set win and 3-2 match victory.