Volleyball Defeats Tulane Tuesday

Tuesday, October 17

New Orleans, La.

1 pm

University of Memphis

8-12, 1-7American

Tulane

12-9, 1-7American

Memphis

Tulane

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Oct 17, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Memphis-Tulane Boxscore Memphis Season Statistics (Overall)Memphis Season Statistics (Conference Matches Only)

Bierria, Myers with double-double performances in the victory.

NEW ORLEANS, La. – University of Memphis senior Faith Myers and sophomore Tai Bierria both logged double-double performances Tuesday to lift the Tigers to a 3-2 American Athletic Conference win over Tulane. Memphis won the match by scores of 25-19, 17-25, 25-22, 14-25 and 15-12.

Bierria had a career-best 17 kills to go with 17 digs, and Myers collected 32 assists and a season-high tying 16 digs.

The win improved the Tigers to 8-12 overall and 1-7 in the American Athletic Conference. The Green Wave fell to 12-9 overall and 1-7 in the league.

Up Next
Memphis returns home to the Elma Roane Fieldhouse for two American Athletic Conference matches this weekend. The Tigers host ECU Friday at 7 p.m. (CT) and then face Cincinnati Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT).

Tigers Tidbits

It was the Tigers' ninth victory over Tulane in the last 10 meetings. Tuesday's match is the only time the two schools meet this season.
Tai Bierria posted her seventh double-double (kills-digs) of the season. Her 17 kills tied a career-high. She also had 17 kills in a five-set victory over Sam Houston State Sept. 8. Her 15 digs were her second-most for a match this season (19 in season opener vs. Bradley)
Tai Bierria's double-figures kills match was her eighth of the season. Her double-digit digs match was her 10^th of the campaign.
The double-double performance was Tia Bierria's third in the last five matches. She is averaging 11.4 kills and 12.2 digs per match in her last five outings.
Faith Myers recorded her eighth double-double of 2017 and her first since Sept. 29 vs. UCF.
It was Faith Myers' fourth 30-plus assists match of the season and her first since she tallied 44 assists in a win over UT Martin Sept. 16.
Junior college transfer Kelsea Bivins posted her ninth double-figures kills match of the season with 11 vs. Tulane Tuesday.
Junior Mady Ruhlman recorded her sixth-straight, double-figures digs match Tuesday with 24. She has 121 of her 171 digs this season in those six matches. She is averaging just over 20 digs per match and nearly five digs per set (4.8) in those six outings.
Freshman Hannah Flowers and redshirt freshman Natale Zanellato, two of the squad's top hitters, did not play Tuesday. It was Flowers' third-straight match that she missed, while it was Zanellato's second-straight.

Memphis vs. Tulane Stats Leaders

Statistic	Memphis	Tulane
Kills	Tai Bierria, 17 Kelsea Bivins, 11	Dayna Kern, 12 Hannah Shaw, 10 Markenzie Benoit, 10
Assists	Faith Myers, 32 Regan Comperry, 18	Justine Bowers, 25 Jenna Ibieta, 18
Digs	Mady Ruhlman, 24 Tai Bierria, 17 Faith Myers, 16	Kaylie McHugh, 19 Lexie Douglas, 13 Jenna Ibieta, 13
Total Blocks	Brianna Kadiku, 5 Sarah Marlatt, 3	A Silver, 8 Dayna Kern, 7 Markenzie Benoit, 7

How It Happened

Overall Match
- The match was the Tigers' fifth five-setter of the season. Memphis is 2-3 in five-set matches.
- Despite the match going five sets, it had only six lead changes.
- The match had 22 ties.
Set One (Memphis 25-19)
- The set had two ties early on at 1-all and 2-all, but Memphis scored the next two points for a 4-2 lead and never trailed.
- Memphis held an 8-7 lead when it used a 4-1 run to extend its advantage to 12-8.
- Two Faith Myers service aces and kills from Allison Grzebien and Tai Bierria accounted for all the points in the spurt.
- The Tigers maintained their cushion throughout the remainder of the opening set to hold on for the win.
Set Two (Tulane 25-17)
- It was a role-reversal in the second set.
- The set began with ties at 1-all and 2-all, but then Tulane pulled out to a 4-2 lead and never trailed.
- Tulane continued to build on its lead and held a 15-10 advantage midway through the game.
- Memphis closed to within three at 17-14 on a Brianna Kadiku kill.
- The Green Wave, though, did not allow the Tigers to get any closer on the way to the set win.
Set Three (Memphis 25-22)
- The third set was more competitive with eight ties and two lead changes.
- Five of the eight ties came in the second half of the set.
- Tulane grabbed the lead early and held a one- or two-point advantage during the first half of the game.
- The Green Wave led 14-12 when Memphis made its push.
- The Tigers used a 4-2 run to knot the game at 16-all.
- Tulane moved back out to a 20-17 advantage, but saw the Tigers roar back with an 8-2 spurt to win the set.
- Bierria logged two kills in the run, and Kadiku, Kelsea Bivins and Regan Comperry each added one kill to help Memphis secure a 2-1 match lead.
Set Four (Tulane 25-14)
- Memphis pulled out to a 6-0 lead to start the fourth set.
- Bivins knocked down two kills in the early spurt.
- The Tigers held a 7-1 advantage when Tulane stormed back with an 11-3 spurt to take a 12-10 lead.
- From that point, the Green Wave built on its lead the remainder of the set.
Set Five (Memphis 15-12)
- The home team carried over momentum from the fourth set to the fifth with an early 4-1 advantage.
- The Tigers battled back to tie the score at 6-all.
- Two Bierria kills kept Memphis in the set and match.
- The score went back-and-forth and was tied at 11-all and 12-all.
- Memphis then closed the set and match with the final three points for the win.
- A Bierria kill pushed Memphis to a 13-12 lead, and a Comperry service ace gave the Tigers a 14-12 lead and match point.
- On set/match point, a Tulane attack error gave Memphis the victory.