Tigers Volleyball Seniors Go Out With Win

Saturday, November 26

Memphis, Tenn.

2 pm

University of Memphis

15-17, 7-13

East Carolina

15-15, 5-15

East Carolina

Memphis

McKenzie Hayes and Summer Morgan, 2016 Volleyball

Photo by: Michael Wade

Nov 26, 2016 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Memphis-East Carolina Boxscore Memphis Season Stats

Memphis sweeps East Carolina 3-0 in regular-season finale

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – What a way to end 2016! And, on Senior Day.

University of Memphis senior Catlin Lilly posted a near double-double performance, and senior Summer Morgan recorded the match's game-winner on a block to lift the Tigers to a 3-0 American Athletic Conference volleyball victory over East Carolina Saturday. Memphis won the match by scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 28-26.

The win improved the Tigers to 15-17 overall and 7-13 in the conference. After a 0-7 start in league play, Memphis bounced back with a 7-6 finish in the conference. The Pirates finished 2016 with a 15-15 overall record and a 5-15 conference mark.

"Today, we played one of our best offensive matches of the season," said head coach April Jauregui. "For Summer to seal the win with a block was fun to see. I'm proud of our seniors. Now we can enjoy this win and our postseason banquet tonight."

The Tigers held their annual postseason team banquet Saturday evening in the Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway Hall of Fame. Moments prior to Saturday's match, the 2016 Tigers senior class was honored. The class includes McKenzie Hayes, Lilly, Morgan and Michaella Moss. The squad's four-year manager, Allie McNamara, also was recognized.

Lilly had 11 kills and nine digs in her final match. The double-digit kills match was the 56^th of her career. Morgan added nine kills, one assist, three digs and four blocks, including the game-winner.

Senior Michaella Moss had five kills, four digs and three blocks, and fellow senior McKenzie Hayes downed two kills and collected two digs.

"You always want to end your season on a win and for your seniors to go out with a bang, and we did that today," said Jauregui. "To finish strong the way we did is what we wanted, because it's not only the end of the 2016 season but also the beginning of 2017. We're excited about next season and what this team can do."

Part of the Tigers' future is freshman Tai Bierria, who had a team-high 13 kills and 12 digs. The double-double match was her second of the season. Juniors Regan Comperry (21 assists/5 digs) and Faith Myers (23 assists/7 digs) split time at setter in Saturday's match.

Sophomore Mady Ruhlman collected a team-best 13 digs. Freshman Brianna Kadiku had eight kills and three blocks.

After taking the first two sets, Memphis looked to close the match in the third, but East Carolina did not go away without a fight. The third set had 15 ties and seven lead changes. The first two sets only had six ties and one lead change.

East Carolina held a 10-8 advantage in the third set, but Memphis responded with a 5-1 spurt for a 13-11 lead. Kills from Hayes and Lilly powered the run. The Tigers continued to lead and held a 21-18 advantage after another Lilly kill.

The Pirates, though, were not done. East Carolina went on a 6-2 mini-run to take a 24-23 lead with the opportunity to close the set and send the match to a fourth game. The Tigers didn't blink.

In the back-and-forth frenzy of the final points, Bierria scored two kills and Kadiku one kill to give Memphis a 26-25 lead. An East Carolina kill knotted the score at 26-all, but that's when a senior appropriately led the Tigers to the win.

A Morgan kill put Memphis ahead 27-26, and a Morgan block on the Pirates' next attack gave the Tigers the 28-26 third-set win and the 3-0 match victory.

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 match lead. Memphis trailed in the early-going of the opening set, but used a 4-0 run to turn a 6-5 deficit into an 8-6 lead. Kills from Bierria, Lilly and Morgan provided the scoring in the run. From that point, Memphis did not lose the lead and went on to a 25-19 victory in the first set.

In the second set, Memphis grabbed a 1-0 lead and did not trail the rest of the way. East Carolina tied the score at 1-all, 3-all and 10-all, but never took the lead. The Tigers used a 6-2 run midway through the game to extend a 10-9 lead to 16-11. Bierria had two kills in the spurt. Memphis maintained its lead the rest of the set on its way to a 25-21 win.