Rifle Drops Matches To N.C. State, Army

Wednesday, October 4

Oxford, Miss.

9 am

University of Memphis

Ole Miss Open

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Oct 11, 2017 | Rifle

Tigers close homestand Saturday vs. Akron.

MEMPHIS, Tenn., and OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Memphis rifle team dropped its first two home matches of the 2017-18 campaign, falling to Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) foes N.C. State and Army West Point. The Tigers also placed 10^th in the Ole Miss Open.

Up Next
The Tigers close out their three-match homestand Saturday, Oct. 14 against GARC opponent Akron. The match begins at 8 a.m. (CT) at the Memphis Rifle Facility in South Hall.

Head coach Dan Hermsmeier
"Our scores are not where we want them to be right now. Our team is going through a lot of changes this season with a new staff and different methods of training. We're trying to ride out that low point right now. We started out with a couple of home matches, and our shooters are getting comfortable shooting at their own range. As we work through all this stuff early, I believe our scores are going to pop up here pretty soon.

"I see our shooters working hard in the matches. The outcomes are not what they are looking for right now, but they are learning that competing hard will eventually pay off. If we continue to work hard and do the little things, the scores will eventually come. Hopefully, we will start to see that soon."

Tigers Tidbits

The Tigers improved their scores from the season-opening Tiger Open to the Ole Miss Open. Memphis shot higher scores in both disciplines and aggregate.
Sophomore Levi Clark was the team's top smallbore shooter at the Ole Miss Open with a 578 score (23^rd).
Junior Leighton Dempster was the squad's top performer in air rifle with a 588 score (20^th).
Freshman Adriana Hickerson posted the Tigers' second-best air rifle score with a 587 (28^th).
In the Oct. 7 match vs. N.C. State, Memphis shot a season-high in air rifle.
Leighton Dempster logged a team-high 1157 aggregate. She also shot a career-best 592 in air rifle and was second in the discipline vs. the Wolfpack.
Senior Makennon Doran registered a 575 score in smallbore and was the team's top performer in that discipline. He placed second overall in smallbore vs. N.C. State.
Levi Clark was the lone Tiger to finish in the top-five in both disciplines, coming in fifth in smallbore (570) and air rifle (582).
Adriana Hickerson shot a 590 in air rifle, which was Memphis' second-best score in the discipline. She was fourth overall in air rifle vs. N.C. State.
In the Oct. 9 match vs. Army West Point, Levi Clark led the way with a 1151 aggregate.
Adriana Hickerson won the air rifle portion of the match with a 590 score.
Senior Haylea Broughton, Levi Clark and Leighton Dempster all placed in the top-10 in both disciplines vs. the Cadets.