Sept. 6, 2008
Final Stats
HIGH POINT, N.C. - Junior outside hitter Alexandra Schultze (Austin, Texas) had a season-high 17 kills, but East Carolina had four players hit over .450 as the Pirates defeated Marist 3-1 (17-25, 25-19, 15-25, 17-25) at the High Point University Invitational on Saturday afternoon. With her performance on Saturday, Schultze has surpassed Christina Brozek for fourth all-time at Marist in kills with 863.
Schultze hit a team-high .239 in the match. Emily Brosky (Whitehall, Pa.) led the Red Foxes' defense with a season-high 19 digs. Kelsey Schaefer (Maria Stein, Ohio) also was in double-figures in digs with 12.
East Carolina (6-1) started the match on a 9-4 run powered by kills from Melissa Zentner and Stephanie Turner. The Red Foxes closed to within three at 12-9 with three straight kills from Schaefer. East Carolina extended the lead to six at 16-10 with the help of three Marist errors. Marist got within four at 21-17 with a kill from Lindsey Schmid (Austin, Texas) but that was as close as the Red Foxes would get. East Carolina took the last four points to win the set 25-17 with Zentner getting two more kills. The Pirates hit .375 in the first set, while Marist hit only .196.
The tide would turn for Marist in the second set. The Red Foxes hit .361 in the set and held East Carolina to a .250 hitting percentage. The two teams traded points early and often to start the second set, playing to an 11-11 tie. With back-to-back kills from Schultze, the Red Foxes started a 6-2 run to take a 17-13 lead. The lead grew to six at 22-16 with consecutive kills from Schultze and Foss. The duo of Schultze and Foss combined to hit .444 with 14 kills in the second set with Foss going 6-7 with no errors and an .857 hitting percentage. Marist rolled to the end as Foss capped the set with a kill to win the set 25-19 and even the match at one set apiece.
East Carolina's defense shined in the third set, holding Marist to 15 points and a hitting percentage of .000. The Pirates opened up a five-point lead at 9-4 and didn't look back, extending the lead to as large as nine at 18-9 before winning the match 25-15. The Pirates hit .290 with 13 kills and had an 80% sideout percentage. Marist battled early in set four, forcing a 4-4 tie highlighted by a pair of kills from Schultze. East Carolina would take the momentum right back, running off eight straight points to take a 12-5 lead. The Red Foxes did not back down, getting back to within four points at 16-12 with a Foss kill. After a Schultze kill made the score 20-16, East Carolina took five of the last six points to win the set 25-17 and the match 3-1.
The Pirates hit .515 in the deciding set, getting 17 kills with no errors. Zentner led East Carolina with 12 kills and hit .417. Lizzy Bruin also hit .417 and had 11 kills and Stephanie Turner had 10 kills. Erica Banning led the Pirates with a .471 hitting percentage and a match-high five blocks. Trish Moore led all players with 23 digs.
The Red Foxes will close play at the High Point University Invitational against the host High Point Panthers at 7 p.m. The match will be available on a live video stream on The Edge at www.BigSouthSports.com for $4.95.
