Volleyball Travels To SMU, Tulsa This Weekend

Friday, November 17

Dallas, Texas

7 pm CT

University of Memphis

SMU

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Nov 16, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Memphis Season Statistics (Overall/Conference Matches Combined)

Tigers play three of season's final four matches on the road.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis volleyball team is back in action this weekend as it starts wrapping up its 2017 campaign. The Tigers travel to SMU and Tulsa.

Although only four matches remain, head coach April Jauregui and her staff have been stressing to the players to give it their all to the last match, last set and last point. The Tigers have responded with some of their best performances down the stretch of the season. Memphis upset Temple and dropped narrow decisions to Connecticut and ECU the past two weekends.

Memphis' American Athletic Conference Road Weekend

Date/Day	Opponent	Time (CT)
Nov. 17/Friday	at SMU	7 p.m.
Nov. 19/Sunday	at Tulsa	1 p.m.

Memphis/Opponents Breakdown

	Memphis	SMU	Tulsa
2017 Record	9-19, 2-14 AAC	19-8, 13-3 AAC	14-14, 8-8 AAC
Series		SMU leads 14-5	Tulsa leads 14-12
Last Meeting/2017		SMU 3-0 win (@Memphis)	Tulsa 3-1 win (@Memphis)
Kills Leader	Tai Bierria, 233	Lauren Mills, 361	Emily Thornson, 446
Assists Leader	Faith Myers, 634	Kendall Patterson, 1,080	Lindsey Ledyard, 551
Digs Leader	Alyssa Kronberg, 342	Montana Watts, 518	Taylor Horsfall, 671
Total Blocks Leader	Brianna Kadiku, 122	Meryn Kennedy, 92	Callie Cook, 105

Head coach April Jauregui comments
"Last weekend was a tough road trip (to Cincinnati, ECU), but everyone in the league has to do it. We went out and competed hard. We're continuing to push here at the end of the season even though our bodies are kind of broken down at this point. Cincinnati had a great gameplan in our match, and at ECU, we were right there in all three sets, losing by two in each one. With one or two more plays, that match could have gone differently."

(At SMU, Tulsa)
"This weekend is not as tough of a trip, and it's good because we get to go to the hometown of a couple of our players, Brianna (Kadiku) and Kelsey (Walter). We hope to get a good crowd at SMU for them."

(On playing all the way until the end of the season)
"We're trying to stress that with our players. This is what Memphis is all about: pushing all the way through. That's our mission going forward. We're going to work hard and keep plugging away. At times, we've shown what we're capable of doing. But, it takes everyone fighting hard together. If we do that, we give ourselves a good chance this weekend."

Tigers Tidbits

The Tigers started 2017 on the road and that's the way they'll end the season. Memphis plays three of its final four matches of the season away from the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. After this weekend's matches at SMU and Tulsa, Memphis returns home for a 1 p.m. (CT) encounter with Wichita State Nov. 22. The Tigers then close the season at Wichita State Nov. 24.
The Nov. 22 match versus Wichita State is the Tigers' regular-season home finale and also the final home match for four seniors. The seniors – Regan Comperry, Kiyla Glasper, Faith Myers and Kendall Seering – will be honored prior to that 1 p.m. (CT) match.
The two Tigers making homecomings this weekend are Brianna Kadiku and Kelsey Walter, both from the Dallas area. Walter calls Dallas home, and Kadiku is from Cedar Hill, a Dallas suburb.
The youth movement at Memphis has been a storyline all season long, and the Tigers have more first-year players on their roster than Tulsa and SMU. The Tigers have 10 newcomers (7 freshmen/2 transfers/1 redshirt freshman) on their roster. Tulsa has six freshmen on its roster, and SMU has five freshmen and one redshirt freshman.
Despite missing five matches due to illness, freshman Hannah Flowers is second on the squad with 222 kills. Flowers' 222 kills are the most by a Tigers freshman since 2014 when Kate Gibson (380 kills) and Oluchi Agomuo (335) both logged over 300 kills.
Sophomore Tai Bierria has been on a tear since the beginning of October. She is averaging a double-double with 10.5 kills and 10.6 digs in the last 13 matches. Bierria has seven double-double performances over that span. She also hit double-figures in kills nine times and digs eight times in those 13 matches.
This week, four Tigers rank in the top-10 in five statistical categories in The American, and they are: Brianna Kadiku in hitting percentage (6^th) and blocks (3^rd), Faith Myers in assists (10^th), Alyssa Kronberg in digs (8^th) and Regan Comperry in service aces (8^th).