Rifle On The Road This Weekend

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis rifle squad takes to the road for the second time this season when it travels to Fort Worth, Texas, this weekend. The Tigers face No. 2 TCU and No. 14 Nebraska. Memphis is No. 18 in this week's Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) poll.

Although it is the second road trip in 2017-18, it is the first outside the Mid-South area. The Tigers' first away match was at Ole Miss Oct. 4 as part of the annual Ole Miss Open.

Date/Day	Opponent/Rank	Time (CT)
Oct. 28/Saturday	TCU/#2	9 a.m.
Oct. 29/Sunday	Nebraska/#14	9 a.m.

Head coach Dan Hermsmeier comments
"We took the time off from competition to regroup. We saw some good things in our last outing, but we still have a lot to work on. Our scores and training are moving in the right direction. We're doing the little things to be successful, and we're going to try and get those scores up.

"Our freshman are getting comfortable and shooting better scores. Our team smallbore results also are improving, and we're trying to get our air rifle scores back up to where they need to be. I'm seeing improvement in overall attitude in our matches and practices.

"We're looking forward to the matches this weekend. TCU is a really good team this season, and so is Nebraska. Both matches will be challenges for us.

"I'm looking to see some carry-over from our training. Most of our shooters have been doing really well in practices recently, and I'm looking for them to take that over into the matches. I want to see that consistency in practice translate to the matches."

Tigers Tidbits

Memphis is facing its highest-ranked opponent this season in No. 2 TCU for a second time. The Horned Frogs were No. 2 in the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) preseason poll when the two programs shot in the Tiger Open Sept. 23-Oct. 1. TCU won the Tiger Open, and Memphis was sixth.
Saturday's Memphis-TCU match is the first head-to-head (non-open, non-invitational) meeting since the 2012-13 campaign. That season, the Tigers and Horned Frogs met in a match in Fort Worth.
Sunday's match vs. Nebraska in Fort Worth is the fifth time in the last six meetings that the two programs meet at a neutral site.
Memphis hosted the Cornhuskers in a tri-match with Jacksonville State in January of 2017. The match was the Tigers' first in their new on-campus home, the Memphis Rifle Facility. Nebraska edged Memphis 4656-4650.
The last time the Tigers posted a win over Nebraska was at the 2014 NCAA Championships. Memphis won 4675-4660. At that NCAA event, the Tigers finished fourth in the nation overall, the program's best performance in the postseason. The captain of that 2014 squad was current head coach Dan Hermsmeier.
Prior to the Tigers' last match vs. Akron Oct. 14, head coach Dan Hermsmeier said the team was improving and the scores would soon follow. In the match vs. the Zips, Leighton Dempster and Makennon Doran both shot season-best aggregates, and Haylea Broughton posted a season-high air rifle mark.

Up Next
The Tigers take off from competition next weekend (Nov. 3-5) and return to action Nov. 11 when they welcome defending NCAA champion and top-ranked West Virginia to the Bluff City.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Haylea Broughton

Leighton Dempster

Makennon Doran

University of Memphis Athletics