Rifle Begins Postseason Saturday

Saturday, February 17

Murray, Ky.

8 am

University of Memphis

NCAA Sectional Qualifier

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Feb 16, 2018 | Rifle

Tigers head to NCAA Sectional Qualifier at Murray State.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – In postseason play, coaches like for two things to happen. First, they want their team to peak as it heads into the postseason. And next, they want to compete as close to home as possible.

University of Memphis rifle head coach Dan Hermsmeier gets both this weekend when his Tigers travel to Murray, Ky., to shoot in the 2018 NCAA Sectional Qualifier. Murray State's Pat Spurgin Rifle Range is the site for the NCAA event, and Memphis shoots Saturday.

The NCAA Sectional Qualifier seems to be coming at the right time for the Tigers, as their numbers have trended up in recent matches. Memphis posted three of its top-four aggregate scores the last four weeks, with one of those coming at Murray State's Withrow Invitational Jan. 20.

In addition, the Tigers have a history of shooting well in the Racers' facility. Earlier this season, sophomore Amberlie Ezell had career-highs for smallbore and aggregate, and junior Leighton Dempster tied her career-best in air rifle at the Withrow Invitational. In last year's qualifier at Murray State, senior Makennon Doran shot career-highs across-the-board and earned a spot in the smallbore discipline at the NCAA Championships. And in 2014, Hermsmeier, then a shooter, helped lead Memphis to a solid performance at the sectional qualifier that earned the Tigers a spot at the NCAA Championships, where they finished fourth in the country.

Head coach Dan Hermsmeier comments
"We've been training hard. We're heading to the sectionals after competing at Ole Miss last week. The match went well for us. I'm looking for everyone to put it together in the same match. If we can do that, then we'll do well.

"This is definitely a good time to peak. It took awhile to adjust to the changes in our training, and now it's starting to pay off.

"We had all of our home matches early, and we were still working through our changes and were in a slump at the time. But, it is a good sign that we're shooting well on the road since all of our postseason matches are away from home. Murray State – like Ole Miss – is our home-away-from-home. A lot of our shooters perform well at Murray State. I know when I was here, I shot well at Murray State too. I don't know what it is about that range, but hopefully we can continue that good fortune and put up some solid numbers this weekend."

Tigers Tidbits

The NCAA Sectional Qualifier is half the score used to determine the top-eight teams that earn spots in the NCAA Championships, which are set for Charleston, S.C., in early March. The equation for determining those teams is the average of a squad's best three scores plus the sectional score divided by two.
The Tigers' top-three match aggregates were 4663 at TCU Oct. 28, 4650 at Kentucky Jan. 27 and 4648 at Ole Miss. Memphis' average aggregate of its top-three scores is 4653.6.
Memphis placed third at the 2017 NCAA Sectional Qualifier with a 4641. Makennon Doran recorded career-bests in smallbore (586), air rifle (590) and aggregate (1176). Haylea Broughton also shot well at last year's qualifier, posting 1169 aggregate and 592 air rifle scores. Both were her second-best marks of the 2016-17 season.
In this season's earlier match at Murray State, Amberlie Ezell set career-highs in smallbore (581) and aggregate (1169), and Leighton Dempster tied her career-best in air rifle (593). Before shooting higher marks this season, Ezell's (1159) and Dempster's (1166) previous-best aggregates came in the 2017 Withrow Invitational at Murray State.
Freshman Matt Dorey, who posted career-bests in both disciplines and aggregate at Ole Miss last week, has improved his scores throughout the season (from season-opening Tiger Open to last week's match vs. Ole Miss). He raised his smallbore by 29 points (551-580), his air rifle by 25 points (564-589) and aggregate by 54 points (1115-1169).
Others that shot career-bests in the last three matches are Abby Votava (589 air rifle/1152 aggregate vs. Ole Miss Feb. 11), Adriana Hickerson (564 smallbore/593 air rifle/1157 aggregate vs. Kentucky Jan. 27), Leighton Dempster (593 air rifle at Withrow Jan. 20), and Amberlie Ezell (589 air rifle at Kentucky Jan. 27).