NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion volleyball team played a couple of close sets to start the match, but fell 3-0 to East Carolina on Saturday at the ODU Volleyball Center to wrap up the team's Quest for the Crown Tournament.
"Playing from behind a lot, our serve and pass game didn't hold up long enough," said head coach Fred Chao. "They got clusters of points just from their serve and pass game. That was really hard to manage, and then when we did get some balls up, we weren't really doing good things in the middle of the rally. So you're going to lose in straight sets if you can't control those two aspects."
Myah Conway was named to the All-Tournament Team after tallying 40 kills (3.08 per set) with 12 digs and 11 blocks. The rightside hitter from Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania started all three matches for the Monarchs and hit .273 through 13 sets played. She also added one assist and finished with a team-high 45.5 points over the three days.
East Carolina 3, ODU 0
Conway led the Monarchs (3-6) with 10 kills and 11.5 points in the loss. She registered three blocks, made two digs and added one assist while swinging for a .318 clip. Tessa Mati scored eight kills with seven blocks. Teresa Atilano turned in 29 assists with five digs, two blocks and a service ace. Jamie Bissmeyer totaled 14 digs on the afternoon and served two aces, while Ashley Peroe dug seven balls with five kills and one ace. Hailey Duncan made four blocks (two solo), scored three kills and recorded one dig.
The opening set remained close until Atilano set up Peroe for a score to trim the Pirates' (4-5) lead to 10-9. That opened a 5-1 swing that put ODU in front 13-11, but ECU pulled even at 13-13 thanks to a Monarch service error and a Pirate block. Later, the guests scored unanswered points to wrestle back control at 20-17. An ace by Atilano put the Monarchs back in front 23-22, but ECU claimed the next three points and the set.
Both sides continued to trade points in the second set. Down 14-9, ODU rallied to knot the score at 18-18 and again at 20-20. Mati followed a Conway kill with two of her own to give the Monarchs a 23-22 advantage, but the Pirates claimed the set with another 25-23 decision.
In the third and final set, ODU went ahead 14-13 on a kill by Duncan. Unfortunately, the Monarchs couldn't halt a 6-0 spurt from ECU and a 25-17 tally gave the Pirates the match in straight sets.
"The positives are that we can generate points," added Chao. "We can actually play hard, score points and serve tough. And we can do those in stretches. But the counter to that is we're not doing it long enough or for an extended period of time."
2022 Quest for the Crown All-Tournament Team
Kaylyn Winkler, Notre Dame (Tournament MVP)
Hattie Monson, Notre Dame
Phyona Schrader, Notre Dame
Angeles Alderete, East Carolina
Sophia Krucko, East Carolina
Averi Miller, Navy
Myah Conway, Old Dominion
Up Next
ODU will head across town to play a non-conference match at Norfolk State on Tuesday, Sept. 13. First serve from Gill Gymnasium is scheduled for 6 p.m. Live stats will be available and the match can be streamed for free on HBCU League Pass Plus.
Following Tuesday's contest, ODU will conclude its non-conference slate next weekend at the VCU Invitational in Richmond, Virginia.
"We still have to iron some things out," Chao said about wrapping up the team's non-conference portion of the season. "We've got to go back, and again I mentioned it before, the details matter and we're losing points on some of those details. Trying to stress that to the group is going to be the message for the rest of this non-conference play so that we actually have this solved before we start [conference play]."
Volleyball Downed by East Carolina Saturday
