Tigers Poised to Finish on Top at Lady Vol Classic

Friday, September 19

Knoxville, Tenn.

6:00 PM

University of Memphis

Tennessee

Sep 18, 2014 | Women's Volleyball

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - First Serve

The Memphis volleyball team travels to the Lady Vol Classic on Friday and Saturday hosted by the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The Tigers are looking to build on their four-match winning-streak against Mercer, Tennessee, Montana State and Austin Peay before starting conference play next week.

Memphis Head Coach April Jauregui (93-107), who is in her seventh-year at the helm of the volleyball program, needs seven victories to eclipse the 100-win plateau.

Protecting the Homefront

The Tigers look to return the prowess of the Elma Roane Fieldhouse to that of the early 2000's when the Blue and Gray went 83-29 from 2001-2008. More recently, Memphis has gone 34-41 since 2009.

Staying Connected

To learn more about the Memphis volleyball team and the rest of Tiger Athletics, visit GoTigersGo.com and follow @MemphisVolley on Twitter and Instagram.

Can You Dig It?

• Memphis currently ranks third in the country in digs-per-set, averaging 18.58 through the first ten matches of the season. The Tigers trail only Missouri-Kansas City and Cleveland State in the national rankings.

•Senior Aleksandra Petronijevic broke the school's all-time dig mark in the teams five-set victory over Mississippi State. The Serbian covered the court with ease, recording an astounding 35 digs in the match. The libero now has 1,859 digs in her career and ranks fourth in the NCAA individually with 6.03 digs/set.

Underclassmen Killing It

• Memphis underclassmen have accounted for 294 of the teams 504 total kills or almost 60-percent (58.33).

• Freshman Kate Gibson leads the team with 116 kills and 140.5 points. The Sedalia, Colo., native has recorded seven double-doubles, including four-straight matches as well as the Maroon Classic Tournament MVP this past weekend.

• Sophomore Catlin Lilly continues to top her breakout freshman campaign where she had more kills than a Tigers' true-freshman since Altrese Hawkins in 2009. The New Albany, Ind., native has recorded four-matches of 10+ kills and a pair of double-doubles.

• Freshman Oluchi Agomuo has also accounted for 77 kills through the first ten matches. The Texas native recorded a season-high 14 against Mississippi State on Friday.

Upperclassmen Tops in American

• Senior Lauren Wright, the Tigers' lone member on the preseason All-Conference team, picked up her 1,000th career point on Aug. 30 against Alabama. The Texas native needs 93 kills to become the 23rd-player in school history to surpass the 1,000 kill-plateau. Wright currently ranks sixth in the American Athletic Conference in hitting-percentage at .348.

• With 116 assists at the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic in St. Louis, junior setter Veronica Zimmerman was named to the All-Tournament team after three-straight double-double performances. The Toledo, Ohio, native moved into eighth-place in the all-time record book against Ole Miss and surpassed 2,000 assists against UT Martin. Zimmerman is third in the American in assists/set and needs 306 more to move into seventh-place in the Tigers all-time record book.

• Junior Alexis Wesley leads the team with 42 blocks and is averaging better than a stuff-per-game to rank seventh in the conference. The middle blocker has logged eight solo blocks and 34 block assists through the first 10 matches.

Tigers Win Maroon Classic

• Last weekend, Memphis went 4-0 at the Maroon Classic hosted by Mississippi State to bring the tournament crown back to the Bluff City.

• Freshman Kate Gibson was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after recording double-digit kills in all four matches, three of which only last three sets.

• Senior Aleksandra Petronijevic and junior Alexis Wesley were also named to the All-Tournament teams after stellar performances by the upperclassmen.

Schedule Breakdown

• The Blue and Gray open the season with tournaments the first four weekends of the season before hitting the road for the conference opener against Tulane

• The Tigers will face off against foes from the SEC, Ohio Valley, Southland, Sun Belt, A10, Southern and Big Sky Conferences in the first month of the season

• Memphis will host 13 matches at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, including the Memphis Intercollegiate Tournament on Sept. 5-6

Season Preview

• Senior Lauren Wright was named to the All-Conference team after leading the squad with 408.5 points in her junior campaign

• The Tigers were picked to finish eighth in the American, despite returning four starters and eight letterwinners

• SMU was pegged as the preseason favorite by American Athletic after receiving 9-of-11 first-place votes

AAC Preseason Poll

Place Team Points

1. SMU (9) 99

2. UCF (1) 87

3. Tulane (1) 79

4. Tulsa 73

5. USF 69