Tigers Volleyball Opens Conference Play

Friday, September 22

Storrs, Conn.

6 pm CT

University of Memphis

Connecticut

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Sep 21, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Memphis plays at Connecticut Friday, Temple Sunday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Well, that was a short stay at home for the University of Memphis volleyball squad.

After hosting and winning their own Memphis Invitational last weekend, the Tigers are back on the road, this time for the opening weekend of American Athletic Conference action. Memphis travels to Storrs, Conn., Friday to face Connecticut, and then moves on to Philadelphia, Pa., to square off against Temple Sunday.

However, opening conference play on the road is nothing new for Memphis. In fact, it's become a tradition of sorts for the program. Since joining the American Athletic Conference in July of 2013, the Tigers have opened every league schedule on the road, including this weekend.

Memphis' American Athletic Conference Opening Weekend

Date/Day	Opponent	Time (CT)
Sept. 22/Friday	at Connecticut	6 p.m.
Sept. 24/Sunday	at Temple	12 p.m.

Memphis/Opponents Breakdown

	Memphis	Connecticut	Temple
2017 Record	7-5	7-5	4-4
Series		Memphis leads 5-4	Temple leads 7-1
Last Meeting/2016		UConn 3-0 win (@Storrs, Conn.)	Temple 3-2 win (@Philadelphia, Pa.)
Kills Leader	Hannah Flowers, 122	Kayla Williams, 139	Izzy Rapacz, 68
Assists Leader	Faith Myers, 318	Emma Turner, 398	Kyra Coundourides, 167
Digs Leader	Alyssa Kronberg, 207	Kennedy Arundel, 161	Mia Heirakuji, 91
Total Blocks Leader	Brianna Kadiku, 48	Genna Florig, 34	Janine Simmons, 38

Head coach April Jauregui comments on conference-opening weekend, look-back to Memphis Invitational
"Everyone is good in this conference. I've already tried to explain to our newcomers that there are no easy matches (in league play), and the players on the other side of the net are very talented. It (conference play) should be a fun ride. We've got 20 matches, and we get started Friday.

"We start off playing a talented UConn team with a high-powered offense. We also play a Temple squad that is coming on strong. Temple had to rearrange one of its in-season tournaments as a result of the hurricane (Miami, Fla., was scheduled to play in Temple's Sept. 8-9 tournament, but had to cancel due to Hurricane Irma), and that disrupted them a little. The Owls have a great right-side player. How you perform in the American Athletic Conference depends on the night. The travel in this league is no joke, and the travel takes a toll on our bodies. We have to get as much rest as we can, and be ready to play."

"We're excited about this weekend. I'm glad we're making this trip (UConn-Temple) before it gets too cold. It looks like the weather there will be nice this weekend. We are expecting two really competitive matches."

"I was pleased with last weekend. Obviously, going 3-0 at home is great. We had a great crowd Friday. It was a great final weekend before we head into conference play. We had some good individual performances. Faith set some good matches, and finished out the last match with 44 assists, which is phenomenal. Brianna has been coming along and is focused on her blocking, and she did a great job last weekend. Natale has put together back-to-back weekends of solid offensive performances."

Tigers Tidbits

The 2017 conference schedule features an even 12 programs for the first time in league history. Wichita State joined the conference this past summer, making 12 teams competing for the title. With the addition, Memphis now has a travel partner on the weekend trips. Last season, the Tigers traveled solo, and the scheduled forced Memphis' two weekend opponents to play a mid-week match before each played the Tigers.
The Connecticut-Temple road trip is the fourth time in the first five weeks the Tigers are playing away from the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Memphis opened the 2017 campaign with three-straight, in-season road tournaments at Eastern Illinois Aug. 25-26, Central Arkansas Sept. 1-2 and Louisiana Tech Sept. 8-9.
Memphis and Temple are meeting for the ninth time, and all nine encounters have come as American Athletic Conference foes. As for Connecticut, Friday's match is Memphis' 10^th time it has faced the Huskies. Eight of the previous nine match-ups were as league opponents. The Tigers and Huskies also had one non-conference match as part of the 1991 Connecticut Challenge in Storrs.
As head coach April Jauregui alluded to in her above comments, nine Tigers newcomers (7 freshmen/2 transfers) are getting their first taste of American Athletic Conference action this weekend. To put that in perspective, Connecticut and Temple combined have seven newcomers on their rosters (Huskies, 4 freshmen; Owls, 3 freshmen).
Sophomore Brianna Kadiku is fifth in the conference in hitting percentage (.330) and seventh in blocks per set (1.09).
Junior college transfer Kelsea Bivins (9^th), freshman Hannah Flowers (15^th) and redshirt freshman Natale Zanellato (19^th) all rank among the conference leaders in kills per set.
Freshman Alyssa Kronberg is sixth in The American in digs per set, and senior Faith Myers is eighth in the conference in assists per set.