University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Radford
Offensive Outburst Leads Memphis Past Radford
Sep 17, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2011
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Altrese Hawkins and Marija Jovanovic each downed 18 kills and Vesna Jelic added 10 as the University of Memphis volleyball team knocked off Radford 3-1 (25-17; 25-18; 23-25; 25-22) in its second game of the Spartan Spiketacular.The Tigers improve to 10-2 on the season, while Radford falls to 4-9.
Memphis picked up where it left off Friday in the first set, taking an early 9-2 lead powered by five-straight aces from Maja Kostic. Marija Jovanovic led the Tigers in the first set with six kills while hitting at a .500 clip and Vesna Jelic contributed four kills along with three digs.
NCAA-assist leader Hajnalka Molnar finished the set with 11 assists. Radford fought back to within 19-11, but kills from Lauren Hawkins and Altrese Hawkins regained momentum for the Tigers as they put the set away, 25-17.
Radford came out firing in the second set, taking a 4-1 lead and extending it to 7-4 before Memphis found its footing. The Tigers used back-to-back kills from L. Hawkins to net the set at seven, but Radford scored two straight to regain the lead 9-7.
Altrese Hawkins then stepped up and had three kills in the midst of a 5-0 run for the Tigers that gave them a 12-9 advantage. Radford made it 13-12 on a range of errors by Memphis, but kills from A. Hawkins and Jovanovic powered another 5-0 run as the Tigers went up 18-12 and took control of the set. Radford responded with another mini-run to make it 20-16, but couldn't get any closer and Memphis brought the set home, 25-18.
The third set proved to be an intense battle with 14 ties and nine lead changes, but ultimately Radford was too much for Memphis. The teams exchanged points for much of the set before Memphis used kills from Jovanovic, Jelic and A. Hawkins to take an 18-15 advantage.
Radford fought back with a 4-0 run, however, to regain the lead 19-15 before another kill from Jelic netted the set at 19. The Highlanders used the momentum to take a 23-22 lead. Memphis staved off one set point to make it 24-23, but a kill from Carly Fleming clinched the set for Radford, 25-23.
Memphis opened the third set on a 3-0 run, but the Highlanders responded with a 3-0 run of their own to tie the set at three. Radford used that momentum to take a 14-10 advantage, prompting Memphis to use a timeout.
The Tigers responded with a 8-1 run out of the time out to regain the lead 18-15, spurred by kills from Jelic and Jovanovic along with a flurry of errors by the Highlanders. Radford refused to quite, however, getting within two at 23-21 and 24-22, but Altrese Hawkins made the final kill to clinch the set 25-22 and the match, 3-1.
A. Hawkins, who now has 998 career kills, registered 18 kills while hitting at a.349 clip and Jovanovic finished with her fourth double-double of the season of 18 kills and 14 digs. Vesna Jelic notched her second double-digit kill game of the season, downing 10 kills against the Highlanders to go along with a team-high 17 digs.
Libero Aleksandra Petronjievic recorded 11 digs, her 11th double-digit dig game of the season. NCAA-assist leader Hajnalka Molnar finished the match with 49 assists, nine digs and one kill, while Katie Meyer and Lauren Hawkins each netted seven kills in the victory.
Radford was led by outside hitter Carly Fleming, who finished the match with 17 kills and a hitting percentage of .577. The Highlanders were led on defense by Rachel Fertitta, who netted 23 digs.
The Tigers finish their play in the Spartan Spiketacular this evening when they take on Radford at 5 p.m. (ET).
