Errors plague ECU women's volleyball in loss to Wichita State

ECU managed more kills that Wichita State Sunday afternoon but 31 attacking errors hindered the Pirates’ effort in a 3-1 (17-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-22) loss to the Shockers inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

Sophomore right side Bri Wood led all players with 17 kills while sophomore outside hitter Sydney Kleinman and freshman Natalie Tyson recorded 14 and 10 apiece. Wood posted 18 digs for a double-double and sophomore setter Shelby Martin racked up 38 assists and 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Redshirt freshman middle blocker Sydney Hall collected five blocks. Alex Koon paced Wichita with 12 kills.

ECU held the Shockers to a .168 hitting percentage but the 31 errors kept the Pirates to a .146 mark. The home team out-dug the visitors 74-58 while Wichita piled up 11 total blocks to ECU’s nine.

A kill by Hall saw the Pirates trailing by just two at 9-7 early in the first before ECU miscues started to pile up the points for the Shockers. Wichita led 19-12 and 23-14 before sealing the set by eight.

A much better start for the Purple and Gold resulted in an 8-4 Pirate advantage in the second, but the Shockers rallied to tie the score at nine. After a kill by Tyson helped ECU take a 12-11 lead, the Pirates scored eight of the next 10 points to pull away and tie the match at intermission with a seven-point margin of victory.

With the score knotted at 10 in the third, an ECU service error sparked a 6-0 Wichita run that gave the Shockers a comfortable cushion. The Pirates attempted to rally down 21-16, but fell short by just two points to give Wichita the pivotal 2-1 lead in the match.

A kill by Koon put her team ahead 13-9 in the fourth and ECU could not quite catch up down the stretch. A block allowed the Pirates to pull within 22-20. However, Wichita held on to win the set by three and clinch the match.

ECU is back in action Friday in a 5 p.m. first serve at USF.