SPORTS
ECU Pirates Sink Davidson Volleyball in Five
This was one of Hattie Rodriguez’s 10 kills during a 2019 match with VCU.
DAVIDSON, N.C. — In their last home game of the spring 2021 season, the Davidson Wildcats fell in a five set battle to the East Carolina Pirates.
The whole match proved to be back-and-forth affair, as the ‘Cats took sets one and four while the Pirates stole sets two, three and five. On the day, ECU clipped Davidson in the attacking column, hitting .203 as a team, compared to .124 for the Wildcats.
Hattie Rodriguez paced the team with a match-high 19 kills, followed not far behind by Malia Kay with 16. The duo also combined for 29 digs and hit .167 as a unit in the contest. Senior setter Sydney Champaigne dished 28 assists and became just the 10th Wildcat in program history to pass 2,000 assists. After today, Champaigne has 2,027 dishes in her career, good for 10th all-time in program history.
Davidson hit a match-best .270 in set one to take away the 27-25 win. After leading 16-11, the ‘Cats seemed in control of the momentum before several offensive miscues allowed the Pirates to pull back within one, down 21-20. After tying the set at 25 apiece, Anela Davis connected with Champaigne on a swing to take the first set win.
The ‘Cats slipped in sets two and three, falling 25-14 and 25-17 after the Pirates ran out to early leads with strong serving and five aces against Davidson. However, the Wildcats turned the tide in the fourth thanks to offensive dominance from Rodriguez and Kay. Down in an 8-3 hole, Kay served Davidson back into the game and took back a 13-12 lead. With a block on the right side from Julia Black and Davis, the ‘Cats took their largest lead of the day, up 15-13. Another solo block from Kay put Davidson up 20-17 and put the set out of reach, as the ‘Cats stole the fourth, 25-22.
ECU took back control in the fifth, jumping out to an 8-2 lead. The ‘Cats continued to fight but the early deficit proved to be too much to overcome at the Pirates took the fifth set and clinched the match victory.
The match’s total blocks were even at 12 apiece for each team, while Davidson combined for 18 block assists and the Pirates had eight solo blocks.
The ‘Cats will conclude the regular season next Saturday, March 27, to take on VCU in Richmond.