BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – East Carolina snagged its first win over UAB since 2006 Saturday afternoon, picking up a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-18) American Athletic Conference victory inside Bartow Arena.  

The Pirates have swept eight opponents this campaign after recording just a trio of 3-0 wins in 2022.  

ECU (10-3, 1-1 AAC) found the win column for the first time in league play, firing over .300 for the fifth time this season. The Pirates finished with a .310 hitting percentage while limiting the Blazers (2-12, 0-2 AAC) to .206 efficiency. East Carolina also held the upper hand in kills (39-38), service aces (8-3), digs (35-33) and total blocks (7.0-4.0).  

Sophomore outside hitter Angeles Alderete shone on the offensive end, racking up 13 kills on 25 attempts with five errors for a .320 hitting percentage. She also paced the Purple and Gold in digs, coming up just short of the double-double with nine. The Pirates also received excellent outings from their middle blockers as sophomore Carlia Northcross and freshman Farah Farooq combined for 12 kills on 16 attempts and just one error to hit a collective .688. Northcross added two solo blocks while Farooq collected four.  

Set One: The sides battled to a 10-10 deadlock in the opener before UAB put a run together and led 17-14 following a Mia Reese kill. A strong serving run by Julianna Askew flipped the script, however, as ECU scored seven straight to propel itself ahead by four. That would be more than enough for the Pirates to see out the set with Fran McBride providing the final kill to give East Carolina an early lead in the contest. 

Set Two: The Pirates enjoyed their most efficient stanza offensively in the second, jumping out to a 10-8 advantage after a block by Farooq and McBride. ECU ended up hitting .417 in the frame but had to pull away late as, with the score knotted at 20, the Pirates notched three of the next four points to establish a 23-21 edge. Alderete had the last word in the set, putting down a kill to give East Carolina the three-point victory and a 2-0 match lead.  

Set Three: Things looked slightly bleak for the Pirates in the third as UAB raced out to a 9-3 advantage. Trailing 11-5 a few rallies later, ECU began to chip away at the deficit. Another strong Askew serving run allowed East Carolina to even the score at 12 and Lara Uyar followed with one of her own that included a pair of aces. When the dust settled, the Pirates found themselves in front 19-15. The Blazers never threatened again as two consecutive UAB attacking errors sealed the ECU sweep. 

Up Next: The Pirates and Blazers close out their weekend set Sunday at 1 p.m.