Volleyball Hosts ECU, Cincinnati This Weekend

Friday, October 20

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm CT

University of Memphis

East Carolina

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Oct 19, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Memphis Season Statistics (Overall/Conference Combined)

Tai Bierria averaging a double-double in last five matches.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – If it's true that players love to compete more than practice, then this is the week for the University of Memphis volleyball squad.

With the rescheduled match versus Tulane inserted on Tuesday, Oct. 17, the Tigers play five matches in 10 days from Oct. 13-22. Memphis faced Tulsa and SMU last Friday and Sunday, and after Tuesday's "make-up" match at Tulane, the Tigers host ECU and Cincinnati this weekend.

Memphis' American Athletic Conference Home Weekend

Date/Day	Opponent	Time (CT)
Oct. 20/Friday	ECU (Memphis pep band/cheer/pom at match)	7 p.m.
Oct. 22/Sunday	Cincinnati (Sundaes on Sunday/free ice cream sundaes while supplies last)	1 p.m.

Memphis/Opponents Breakdown

	Memphis	ECU	Cincinnati
2017 Record	8-12, 1-7 AAC	14-6, 6-2 AAC	8-12, 6-2 AAC
Series		Memphis leads 21-6	Cincinnati leads 29-21
Last Meeting/2016		Memphis 3-0 win (@Memphis)	Cincinnati 3-1 win (@Memphis)
Kills Leader	Hannah Flowers, 168	Lael Ceriani, 251	Carly Nolan, 308
Assists Leader	Faith Myers, 479	Shelby Martin, 663	Jade Tingelhoff, 735
Digs Leader	Alyssa Kronberg, 246	Brandee Markwith, 405	Carly Nolan, 230
Total Blocks Leader	Brianna Kadiku, 78	Natalie Montini, 77	Maya Muldrow, 78

Head coach April Jauregui comments
"Obviously, we're happy to get the win at Tulane. Picking up a conference win, especially on the road, is great. That should help us build some confidence as we head into this weekend. Our goal is to keep our focus on the match in front of us and make progress daily even with the lineup adjustments we've had to make.

"ECU is on a hot streak right now. They've won five straight and playing with a lot of confidence. They've put some things together, and they are a veteran team. ECU is a relentless team, so that match will be a battle.

"Cincinnati started the season a little rocky with their best player injured and out for the year. But, they are coming on strong. We're going to have to serve well in that match so we can try and take them out of some of the things they want to do."

Tigers Tidbits

The Tigers' conference schedule has Memphis playing back-to-back home weekends, with Tulsa and SMU Oct. 13-15 and ECU and Cincinnati Oct. 20-22. It is the fourth-straight season Memphis has had consecutive home weekends within the league schedule. The Tigers have had some success on their back-to-back weekends in the past, winning three of the four matches over a two-weekend span in 2014 and 2016. Last year, Memphis posted wins over Tulsa, Houston and Tulane in its consecutive-weekend home dates.
When they face ECU Friday, the Tigers may want to prepare for a long match. Four of the last six meetings versus the Pirates went gone five sets. The two programs spilt those four five-setters.
Much has been made of the few Tigers home matches so far in 2017. Well, a team that can rival Memphis in that category is Cincinnati. The Bearcats have played 16 of their 20 matches to date on the road, and Memphis has played away from the Elma Roane Fieldhouse 13 out of its 20 matches. By season's end, Cincinnati will play nine total home matches, and Memphis 12. Of course, the Bearcats have a good excuse for playing on the road so much. Their homecourt, Fifth Third Arena, is under renovations and will re-open in the fall of 2018.
Sophomore Tai Bierria has been on a tear in recent matches. She is averaging a double-double with 11.4 kills and 12.2 digs in the last five matches. Bierria tied a career-high with 17 kills and added 17 digs (second-most on the season) in the road win at Tulane. She has three double-double performances in the last five outings.
Since being inserted as the libero in late September, junior Mady Ruhlman has helped shore up the Tigers' defense. In the last six matches, she logged 121 of her 171 digs on the season (70.8 percent). Ruhlman collected double-figures digs in all six matches, including three performances with 20-plus digs.
This week, three Tigers rank in the top-10 in four statistical categories in The American, and they are: Brianna Kadiku in blocks (10^th), Faith Myers in assists (8^th) and Alyssa Kronberg in digs (7^th) and service aces (10^th).