Herd Volleyball Outlasts ECU, 3-1

Oct. 19, 2007

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall University senior outside hitter Kelly-Anne Billingy tallied a match-high 17 kills and registered 14 digs to help lift the Herd to a 3-1 (30-26, 30-27, 28-30, 30-22) win over East Carolina University in Friday evening's Conference USA volleyball match at the Cam Henderson Center.

With the win, Marshall improves to 15-8 on the season and is 8-1 in the conference, while ECU drops to 12-12 overall, 3-6 in the conference.

After building a two-game lead in the match, the teams fought to 11 ties and five lead changes in the third frame before the Pirates were able to pull out the victory and force a game four.

In the fourth stanza, Marshall posted a 20-13 lead before the Pirates answered with three consecutive points to bring the score to 20-16. Marshall responded by forcing three consecutive attacking errors and added a service ace by senior libero Maggie Arias to push the score to 25-16. The Pirates tallied six of the next 11 points but it was not enough to hold off the Herd as Billingy sealed the match with her 17th kill of the night.

"We'll take it," head coach Mitch Jacobs said following the Herd's second consecutive win following the loss to UAB. "It was a very sloppy match. We need to slow things down when it gets sloppy. Now we have to get ready for Sunday, but we'll take it."

Senior outside hitter Stephanie Cahill tallied 15 kills and 10 digs in the win, while freshman setter Elizabeth Fleming handed out 63 assist and had 11 digs for the Herd.

Sophomore outside hitter Kristin Marcum added 12 digs, while Arias tallied a match-high 16 digs.

Senior middle hitter Uche Ndubisi added 14 kills while junior middle hitter Jalicia Ross finished with 16 kills and four assisted blocks on the night.

The Herd will travel to Greenville, N.C. to face East Carolina, Sunday, Oct. 21 in the second of the home and home doubleheader this weekend. Match time is set for 1:00 p.m.

Pictures from tonight's match can be seen on www.HERDZONE.com.

Marshall will host the 2007 Conference USA Championship on Nov. 15 to the 18th at the Cam Henderson Center and ticket prices are as follows:

Adult Advance:

$8/Day

$25/Tournament

Adult Walk-up

$10/Day

$30/Tournament

Youth Advance:

$6/Day

$20/Tournament

Youth Walk-up

$8/Day

$25 Walk-up

$15 Tournament Pre-Sale Group Rate (Groups larger than 10)

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Players Mentioned

Maggie Arias

Kelly-Anne Billingy

Stephanie Cahill

Elizabeth Fleming

Kristin Marcum

Uche Ndubisi

Jalicia Ross

Marshall University Athletics