University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Houston
Volleyball Starting Four Game Road Swing Friday at Houston
Oct 15, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Tigers facing Cougars at 7 p.m. Friday night.
MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis volleyball (11-8, 2-4 American) team is back on the road and looking to improve on its 2-1 road mark in American Athletic Conference play, Friday, at 7 p.m. The Tigers will face a stiff test at Houston (14-4, 4-2 American), a team currently half a game back of second place in the league standings.
Memphis is coming off back-to-back home losses last weekend, and is looking to get back in the win column in a situation they seem to be comfortable in. After winning nine conference road matches last year, the Tigers are 2-1 on the road in league play so far this year, a good thing with 7 of their first 10 matches on the conference slate coming on the road.
Junior outside Catlin Lilly leads a Memphis offense that got stuck a bit last weekend. Lilly, who ranks ninth in the league with 3.06 kills per game, also ranks third in the league in service aces per set with 0.35.
Statistically, the match-up with Houston is a close one. Memphis and Houston rank two and three, respectively, in opponent's hitting percentage (.165 to .176) and rank fifth and sixth in hitting percentage for their own offenses (.212 to .210). Defensively, Houston is out-blocking Memphis 2.09 to 1.86 per set, but Memphis' 16.75 digs per set ranks second in the league, about half a dig higher than the host Cougars' average (16.23).
In conference-only contests, Memphis is averaging 13.26 kills per set, which ranks fourth in the league. But the Tigers aren't terminating as many attacks as they could, as their .181 hitting percentage ranks ninth of 11 teams in the first six league matches, while Houston ranks fifth with a .198 hitting clip. Memphis has also not had as much success in the service game since the conference calendar flipped over, averaging 0.52 aces a set (compared the 1.35/set overall). But the Memphis defense has had success in league play. Memphis' 18.30 digs per set leads the conference and should give the offense more attempts at the kill.
The trip back to Houston will be a homecoming for sophomore outside Oluchi Agomuo. In the trip to Houston last year as a freshman, Agomuo led Memphis with 16 kills and a .389 hitting percentage in a 3-1 loss to the Cougars. So far this year, the sophomore is third on the team with 2.49 kills per set and her .206 hitting percentage leads the outside hitting corps.
Live stats for the match will be available on the Cougars' website at www.UHCougars.com. Live video for the match is also available there for a subscription cost.
Memphis will stay on the road and will go to New Orleans to face Tulane, Sunday, at 1 p.m. to wrap up the first half of the road swing. The Tigers do not return home for a match until Friday, October 30th, when UConn comes to the Elma Roane Fieldhouse to start the second half of the round robin conference schedule.
