Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
East Carolina
Herd Volleyball Continues to Roll, Sweeps East Carolina 3-0
10/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 2, 2005
The Thundering Herd volleyball team flexed its muscle Sunday afternoon against East Carolina for its second sweep over the Pirates this weekend.
Marshall (11-4, 3-0 C-USA) used a dominating offensive attack with its .398 team hitting percentage to down ECU 3-0 (30-16, 30-26, 30-26). ECU hit .193 on the day.
With the win, the Herd has now won four in a row and 11 of its last 13. East Carolina falls to 8-6 and 1-2 in Conference USA play.
"We played really well," Marshall head coach Mitch Jacobs said. "We definitely won the battle at the net today. I thought East Carolina played quite well, so we definitely deserved this win with the way we played."
On the day, the Herd was led by dominating performances by its outside hitters. Kelly-Anne Billingy had a stellar outing with 26 kills and a .513 hitting performance. Stephanie Cahill also put together an impressive line with 13 kills, a .462 hitting percentage and 10 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
"Kelly was fantastic today," Jacobs said. "Not only was she putting balls away, her defense was great. Her seven digs were very well-timed for us and her improved blocking ability is really helping our other player step up at the net."
The Herd outblocked ECU 11 to five on the day and had 50 digs compared to 32 for the Pirates.
Individually for the Herd along with Cahill and Billingy, Nickie Sanlin posted a .636 hitting percentage on seven of 11 swings with no errors and five block assists. Katie Stein had 47 assists, eight digs and four blocks and Maggie Arias had 10 digs in the Herd's winning effort.
In the match, the Herd came out swinging and took a large early lead and rolled to a 30-16 win in the opener thanks to a .560 team hitting percentage.
East Carolina tried to swing the momentum in its favor in games two and three, but the Herd would prove to be the stronger team as it took both games 30-26.
"I thought in game two they were knocking on the door and couldn't quite catch us and then they jumped out to a lead in game three, but we re-focused and did what we needed to do to finish strong and get the win," Jacobs said. "We've earned our three wins in conference play so far over two very good teams. I'm proud of our group and the growth they've showed to this point. Now we need to keep working hard and stay focused and get ready for Southern Miss on Friday."
The Herd will play host to the Southern Miss Eagles Friday night in the Cam Henderson Center at 7 p.m. The Herd is 3-0 at home this season and 27-4 in Henderson Center since 2002.
