GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina limited Temple to a .094 hitting percentage and racked up 73 digs on the way to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-20) American Athletic Conference victory Friday evening inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

The Pirates (3-6, 1-6 AAC) snagged their first league win of the year while the Owls (7-5, 1-4 AAC) lost their third-straight AAC affair.

Senior right side Bri reached a career milestone in the contest, notching her 1,000th kill in the third set. She was one of three ECU players to reach double figures as junior outside hitter Natalie Tyson turned in 14 kills and freshman outside hitter Sania Mccoy produced a personal-best 10. Wood finished with 11 kills and 14 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Tyson also recorded a double-double, adding 10 digs, while both Pirate setters joined the double-double club as well. Senior Alisi Motu’apuaka ended up with 12 assists and 16 digs to complement a 13-assist, 13-dig performance from junior Janiece Jefferies. Senior libero Camryn Allen also chipped in with 15 digs of her own.

Gem Grimshaw paced Temple with 14 kills and 11 digs while setter Tyler Lindgren tallied a double-double of 26 assists and 13 digs.

East Carolina out-hit its guests .204-.094 on the strength of 45 kills on 137 attempts with 17 errors. The Owls committed 21 attack errors on 138 swings, collecting 34 kills. Defensively, the Pirates were all over the floor, posting the second-highest dig total of the campaign. Temple did not do too poorly itself, grabbing 64 digs with four players in double figures. The teams also combined for nine blocks.

In the first set, ECU took advantage of a number of offensive miscues by the Owls to race out in front 6-2. Temple rallied to take a 13-12 advantage on the back of a Grimshaw kill, but the Pirates reeled off six of the next nine points to force the Owls into a timeout. Temple got within 21-19 before East Carolina ended the frame on a 4-1 run.

The sides battled to a tie at five apiece in the second stanza before a Tyson kill sparked a 6-4 Pirate spurt that propelled the Purple and Gold to an 11-9 edge. The lead grew all the way to 18-14 when Tyson put down consecutive kills but the Owls notched two straight to cut their deficit to a pair and prompt an ECU timeout. Temple managed one last push, eventually tying things at 22 via a Taylor Davenport kill. However, two Owl attack errors and an Allen ace were the last words as the Pirates entered the intermission up two sets to none.

It was all East Carolina early in the third frame. Before Temple could blink, a kill by Mccoy had the Pirates ahead 12-6. The Owls burned a timeout in order to regroup, but Mccoy kept it going with another kill out of the break as ECU continued to pull away. The Pirates looked poised to finish things off emphatically, leading 20-11 thanks to a kill by senior outside hitter Sydney Kleinman. However, Temple scored six straight to tighten up the score before East Carolina settled in and eventually finished the match off with a block.

Up Next: The Pirates and Owls meet again Saturday, March 13, at Noon inside Minges Coliseum.