University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Tulsa
Volleyball Wrapping Up Road Swing This Weekend
Oct 22, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Memphis starting road swing at Tulsa Friday afternoon.
MEMPHIS – The Memphis volleyball team (13-8, 4-4 The American) will wrap up their four-match conference road swing this weekend with a Friday afternoon match at Tulsa and a Sunday afternoon match at league-leading SMU.
The Tigers bounced back from an 0-2 week two weeks ago to go 2-0 on the road last weekend with a pair of 3-2 victories. Friday at Houston, Memphis came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2. Sunday, at Tulane, the Tigers and the Green Wave split the first two sets and went the full five, with the Tigers winning the fifth set, 15-13 to improve to 4-1 on the road during conference play.
This weekend's matches will mark the halfway point of the conference slate for Memphis. The Tigers will have played seven of their first 10 matches in league play on the road and will start the second half of league play next weekend when UConn and Temple come to visit the Bluff City.
But first, the Tigers will get a chance at catching up to teams currently ahead of them in the standings. Memphis is currently tied with Houston for fifth in the league standings. Tulsa, at 10-10 on the year, is one game ahead of the Tigers, currently tied with Cincinnati at 5-3 in the league race.
"We play two teams above us this weekend," Head Coach April Jauregui said. "This is a big test this weekend to get ourselves back in the conference race. Coming in to the end of the first round of conference we want to position ourselves to make a push in the second round because our team goals are still intact."
Tulsa has won four of its last five matches, including 3-2 wins over UConn and East Carolina and 3-1 road wins at UCF and USF last weekend. Senior Ashley Hooper is one of the league's most effective hitters for the Golden Hurricane, ranking third with a .335 attack percentage, while junior Erica Bohannon ranks fifth with 3.80 kills per set. Setter Sophie Bethke ranks third in the American with 10.38 assists per set and junior Brooke Berryhill backs up the defense with 5.05 digs per set.
Memphis junior outside Catlin Lilly will try to counter the potent Golden Hurricane attack with her Tiger teammates. Lilly ranks 10th in the conference with 3.00 kills per set and her 0.35 service aces per set currently ranks third in the league. Senior setter Veronica Zimmerman is fifth in the conference with 9.04 digs per set and junior middle Summer Morgan has helped the Memphis defense with 1.03 blocks per set, currently sixth in the league.
The match at Tulsa was moved up to 3 p.m. since the Memphis at Tulsa football game will kick off at 7 p.m. right next door to the Reynolds Center. After that Friday afternoon match, the Tigers will bus to Dallas to prepare for a showdown at league-leading SMU.
The Mustangs are off to a 7-1 start in conference play and carry a seven-match win streak in to the weekend. SMU's one slip up in conference play was a 3-0 loss at Houston, a place Memphis won at last weekend 3-2.
The Mustangs have one of the league's top offenses. The team's .242 hitting percentage ranks second and their defense leads the conference by holding opposing hitters to a .160 clip. Junior Janelle Giordano is second in the conference with a .401 attack percentage and leads the league with 1.53 blocks per set. Senior setter Avery Acker runs the highly-potent offense with 12.36 assists per set, leading the league, while junior Morgan Heise ranks second on the defensive side of things with 5.72 digs per set.
Live stats and video for both matches will be available through links at www.GoTigersGo.com.
