University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
UAB
UAB Rallies Past Memphis, 3-2, in C-USA Opener
Sep 17, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2009
Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -
UAB (6-5, 1-0 C-USA) 22 16 25 25 15 Memphis (2-9, 0-1 C-USA) 25 25 21 22 10Christine Bach, Katlin Inglish and Lauren Thompson all posted double-doubles libero Becky Shaffer made a career-high 27 digs and Altrese Hawkins put down a career-high 14 kills, but in the end Memphis was unable to hold off a UAB rally in a 3-2 loss at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, Thursday evening.
Bach handed out a match and career-best 51 assists to go with 12 digs. Inglish downed 12 kills and made 12 digs. Thompson recorded a career-high 20 digs and slammed 11 kills.
Memphis jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but faltered down the stretch to drop its first Conference USA opener in three years.
"We had a really good game plan and we executed it well in the first and second sets," said head coach April Jauregui. "We went away from that in the third and fourth sets and when you go to five sets anything can happen."
With a two-set lead, the Tigers looked to clinch a sweep. Things looked promising as Memphis took early leads of 4-1 and 10-7. The Blazers grabbed the momentum and put together an 8-0 run to make it 15-10. The Tigers responded by scoring 10 of the next 15 points to tie the set at 20-20, but could not complete the comeback in a 25-21 loss.
Memphis again got off to a quick start in the fourth as it looked to close out the match. After holding a 5-1 lead early, the Tigers could not hold off the Blazers charge. A four-point push by UAB gave them a 13-12 lead and they later put together a string of three-straight points to take a 19-16 advantage late in the set. Memphis could not cut into the three-point deficit as UAB pushed the match to the maximum.
The deciding set was all UAB. After a 2-2 tie, the Blazers rattled off four-straight points to take control of the shortened stanza. Memphis cut the lead to 7-6 after Inglish and Underwood teamed up for a block, but that was as close as the Tiger would come in a 15-10 decision.
Memphis got a kill by Emily Underwood, block assists from Underwood and Katlin Inglish, and a hitting error by UAB to jump out to a quick 3-0 lead. The Tigers extended the lead to 12-7 to force UAB into a timeout. The Blazers used the timeout to regroup and scored the next six points to take a 13-12 advantage. Trailing 16-15, Carolyn Baker Altrese Hawkins teamed up for assisted block to ignite a four-point swing that put Memphis up for good, 19-16. The Tigers hit .227 on 15 kills in the set. Setter Christine Bach connected with the Tiger hitters for 13 assists in the opener. The Memphis defense held UAB to a .100 hitting percentage.
The Tigers used a strong offensive attack to take a two-game lead into the intermission. Memphis hit .429 on 13 kills and just one error in the second set. A solo block by Bach and a kill by Underwood powered a fast 5-1 start for the Tigers. But the Blazers did not let the set get away and fought back to knot the set at 10-all. Consecutive kills by Hawkins and two by Thompson gave Memphis a 14-11 cushion. That lead was extended to six points, 19-13, after the Tiger defense forced UAB into a hitting error.
The Tigers return to action on Friday, September 18, when they take on Samford at 7 p.m.
