Tigers Volleyball Falls In Conference Home Opener Friday

Friday, September 30

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm

University of Memphis

8-7,0-3

Connecticut

12-3,3-1

Connecticut

Memphis

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Tigers Volleyball Falls In Conference Home Opener Friday

Sep 30, 2016 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Memphis-Connecticut Boxscore Memphis Season Stats

Memphis back in action at home Sunday vs. Temple

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis senior Catlin Lilly had a team-high 10 kills, and freshman Tai Bierria added eight kills, but visiting Connecticut came away with a 3-0 American Athletic Conference volleyball victory at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Friday. The Huskies won the match by scores of 25-19, 25-14 and 30-28.

The setback dropped Memphis to 8-7 overall and 0-3 in the league. The Huskies improved to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in The American.

Memphis returns to action at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Sunday. The Tigers host Temple in a 12 p.m. (CT) American Athletic Conference match.

Lilly also posted seven digs, and Bierria had five digs. Senior Summer Morgan recorded seven kills and three blocks, and freshman Brianna Kadiku added seven kills. Faith Myers led the Tigers with 16 assists, and Mady Ruhlman collected a team-best eight digs.

"Our defense struggled tonight," said head coach April Jauregui. "It wasn't so much that we were out of position. They were swinging hard, and we weren't getting many touches on our block attempts.

"But that's our conference this year, it's tough. You can come out and fight and still lose in three sets. I told the team to keep fighting, and it's going to pay off. I hope we learned from tonight and can bounce back and get a win Sunday."

Connecticut used spurts to gain advantages it did not lose in the first two sets. In the final set, the Tigers and Huskies battled throughout.

The first set opened with the teams trading points, and Memphis had a 7-6 lead early. From there, Connecticut went on an 8-0 run to grab control of the first set at 14-7. The closest the Tigers got the rest of the way was four points twice (16-12 and 17-13). The Huskies took the first set 25-19.

The story was the same in the second set. Memphis jumped out to a 4-1 lead on the strength of three-straight Bierria kills. The Huskies, though, stormed back with an 8-1 run this time to take a 9-5 lead. The Tigers countered and pulled to within one at 9-8, but Connecticut put together another spurt – this time, a 13-4 run – to take a 22-12 advantage. The Huskies won the second set 25-14.

After intermission, Memphis and Connecticut played a back-and-forth third set that had 13 ties and eight lead changes. The Tigers grabbed a 4-3 lead only to see the Huskies pull back in front 8-7. Memphis responded with a 4-0 mini-run to match its largest lead of the match at 11-8. The Tigers maintained their advantage until late in the set when Connecticut netted three-straight points for a 25-24 lead. The teams traded kills before the Huskies pulled out the 30-28 third-set victory.