volleyball

Lael Ceriani jumps to spike the ball.

The East Carolina University volleyball team hosted the ECU Invitational this weekend, and showed plenty of energy and excitement in its first three games of the season when William & Mary, Georgia State and Rutgers came to town.

The Pirates went 2-1 on the weekend, as they swept both William & Mary and Georgia State, and lost to a tough Big Ten opponent in Rutgers in four sets.

In the Pirates’ final game of the weekend, they were tasked with Rutgers, a member of the Big Ten Conference, which is considered one of the best conferences in women’s college volleyball. ECU looked strong out of the gate, as they won the first set 25-19. The Scarlet Knights, however, responded with strong play from the tournament MVP Kamila Cieslik, who led the team with 17 kills and 11 digs. Her play proved to be too much for the Pirates, as Rutgers won the final three sets of the game, 27-25, 25-17, 25-22.

The Pirates were led by senior outside hitter Lael Ceriani, who added 17 kills and eight digs. Ceriani had a great weekend overall, leading the team in kills in each of its three games. Her solid play on the weekend was enough to earn her a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

Ceriani says she was able to start the season on a high note due to the confidence being a senior brings to her.

“Sometimes you come out, and feel like you can really see the court,” Ceriani said. “You just have that energy that comes with seniority, you don’t have the jitters, and you’re used to it.”

The Pirates defeated Georgia State earlier the same morning, easily sweeping them in three sets. ECU saw great play from sophomore middle hitter Toya Osuegbu, who was also named to the All-Tournament Team. She had a career-high nine kills against Georgia State, and showed composure despite being just a sophomore.

Head Coach Julie Torbett was impressed with how well her underclassmen played, despite limited experience at the college level.

“I think they are fantastic,” Torbett said. “I think that they bring that young energy and love for the game. They are going to make mistakes though, but I think they are going to be phenomenal players for our program.”

One young player that impressed Torbett the most over the weekend was freshman right side hitter Bri Wood, who had a strong opening weekend in her first ever collegiate games. She is second on the team in kills behind Ceriani.

“I thought Bri Wood had some spectacular attacks against a Big Ten team,” Torbett said. “She’s a freshman, so I couldn’t be happier with the effort.”

The Pirates opened up the season on Friday, easily sweeping William & Mary (25-19, 25-17, 27-25). The excitement of opening night could easily be seen on the faces of the team, both on the court, as well as on the bench. ECU was charged up by the momentum of the crowd in Minges Coliseum, and used that energy to dominate William & Mary in the first two sets of the game.

While the Pirates went a respectable 2-1 on the weekend, Coach Torbett said Rutgers was a team they could have beaten. She said the Pirates will be able to use this early season loss as a teaching moment, and something to build off of.

“You definitely learn out of losses,” Torbett said. “I hope that is what they take away from it. I certainly thought that we could beat Rutgers, we just couldn’t finish certain times in each set.”

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.