University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Southern Miss
Volleyball Sweeps Season Series versus Southern Miss
Oct 26, 2007 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 26, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -
Memphis 3, Southern Miss 0
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Memphis (19-9; 8-3) 31 30 30 Southern Miss (10-17; 1-10) 29 22 25
Junior outside hitter Sarah Bury hammered home a match-high 18 kills, Ashley Liford posted a double-double with 12 kills and 16 digs and setter Laura Côté set 43 assists as Memphis sprinted to a sweep of Southern Miss on Friday evening. The win was the sixth in the last seven conference matches for the Tigers, who improve to 19-9 overall and 8-3 in league play.
The Tiger offense got 11 kills from Shelby Burton. Burton also made it tough on Southern Miss hitter, making four blocks--three of which were of the solo variety. Memphis, who limited USM to just .093 hitting in the match, also got 10 digs from Christine Bach.
Bury and Liford got off to strong starts in the opening frame, with both pounding down six kills and Liford adding nine digs. After falling behind 3-0, the first of Burton's three solo rejections knotted the tilt at 3-3. A kill by Liford put Memphis on top 9-5, but an energized Golden Eagles club battled back with four unanswered points to tie the set again. A pair of strikes by Bury gave Memphis a 15-12 cushion, and a ball handling error by USM gave the Tigers a five-point cushion at 20-15. Southern again fought back to tie the game six more times before Memphis got the advantage and followed with a block by Kelsey Labrum and Rebekah Strickland to end the game, 31-29.
The game one win deflated the Golden Eagles and the Tigers were able to jump out to a 15-9 lead midway through. The lead ballooned to 11 points at 21-10 after Burton made another solo block. One of Labrum's five kills made it 26-16. Memphis contained Southern Miss to just .077 hitting in to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
The Tigers clinched the sweep with its strongest offensive set of the night. Memphis led from the first score--a kill by Bury. A score by Burton and an attacking error by USM made it 3-0 and the Tigers were on their way. Another spike by Bury gave the UofM a 15-10 advantage. USM made a run, cutting the Memphis lead to just two points at 15-13, but Burton came up with a kill to hold the Golden Eagles at bay. One of Labrum's three aces on the night extended Memphis' lead to 24-20 and Southern Miss was never able to close the gap any closer than four points in a 30-25 Tiger win.
USM got a match-high four aces from setter Katie Matlock. Matlock set 28 assists in the contest. Ashley Petrinic and Angela Hlavaty each totaled nine kills. Maia Ivanova led the team with 11 digs.
Memphis will now look ahead to a Sunday afternoon matchup at UCF. First serve is set for 1 p.m. EST.
