University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
UConn
Fourth Place Faceoff Set for Fieldhouse Friday
Oct 29, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Tigers looking for home court win to start sorting conference standings.
MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis volleyball team (14-9, 5-5 American) is one of five teams currently tied for fourth place in the American Athletic Conference standings and will look for the series sweep when Connecticut (11-10, 5-5 American) comes to town Friday for a conference clash. Memphis won the first meeting in Storrs, 3-1, but UConn is now carrying a four-match win streak in to the weekend's play, including a 3-2 win over second place Temple, Memphis' opponent on Sunday.
"With this tie for fourth right now, the next two weeks is where we are going to have a big separation here in what's going on in the conference," Head Coach April Jauregui said. "UConn is on a four-match win streak, so they are playing really, really well. So even though we just saw them a few weeks ago, there's a huge difference between then and now."
Memphis has won three of its last four, all on the road. Two of those three road wins were 3-2 victories, including a rally back from 2-0 at Houston.
"Three out of our five wins have been in five, so we have found a way to win," Jauregui said. "I still think offensively we have to fix a couple of things. We've been able to really hustle some points out and our defense has been good, but we still have some areas where we can improve. But this is right where we want to be, right in the mix of things."
The Tigers have struggled to find consistent offense as of late. The team has hit over .230 in just one of the last six matches, but found ways to get wins until running in to league leading SMU last Sunday.
"SMU, in my opinion, is a team that should be ranked in the top 25 right now," Jauregui said. "They're just so good in their transition game. We showed some good signs of stuff in spurts against them, but we are a different team from when we last played UConn too. We have players in different positions."
Junior outside Michaella Moss has been a part of the Tigers' starting lineup in the last three outings after her play off the bench helped Memphis rally back in the win at Houston. Freshman Kelsey Walter also slid in to the starting rotation in the Houston/Tulane weekend before senior middle Torika Baleilekutu returned last weekend as Memphis tries to find some kick start for its offense.
"These next two weekends are really important for us," Jauregui said. "We're home this week and then next week is homecoming. We've had great support and need that again the next two weeks since our last home weekend is Thanksgiving, which I know is tough for people to get to."
First serve Friday will be at 7 p.m. The first 100 fans will receive a Happy Halloween trick or treat bag and all fans are encouraged to come in costume. Free candy will be available while supplies last.
