Rifle Falls To Navy In Tiger Open

Saturday, September 23

Memphis, Tenn.

8 am

University of Memphis

Tiger Open

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Sep 29, 2017 | Rifle

Memphis next competes in Ole Miss Open Oct. 4.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis rifle team fell to Navy in its 2017-18 season opener, dropping a 4634-4595 decision to the Mids. The match also was the coaching debut for Dan Hermsmeier, the former Tigers' seven-time All-American who took over in July as only the second head coach in the program's history.

Sophomore Levi Clark led the Tigers with an aggregate of 1157 and also posted the match's second-best smallbore score (580). Junior Leighton Dempster shot the match's top air rifle score of 591.

Up Next
The Tigers look for a "bounce-back" performance Oct. 4 when they shoot in the Ole Miss Open in Oxford, Miss. Memphis' next home match is Oct. 7 against Great American Rifle Conference foe N.C. State.

Head coach Dan Hermsmeier
"We struggled in our first match last weekend. The team has a lot of high expectations, but they're going through a lot of changes this year with new training times, new practice regiments and a new staff. It's going to take a little time to get used to all that. Also, we've only been practicing three weeks, so as the season moves along, the team will get more familiar with all the new things we're doing and will improve.

"Even though we were disappointed in our performance, our shooters handled themselves well. They did not shoot a good score, and they knew it throughout the match. They handled themselves professionally. I even heard from other coaches at the match that they were impressed with how our team handled the situation. That's something that I'm looking for from this team all season. The score and performance may not always be there, but if you act professionally, that's what matters.

"The team had high expectations going into this first match, and sometimes, the start doesn't work out the way you wanted it to. It's our job, as a staff, to help the team regroup and focus on the right things instead of looking at the past. We need to learn from this and improve for the next match."

Tigers Tidbits

Sophomore Amberlie Ezell shot a 571 in air rifle, which was six points better than her 565 in last year's Tiger Open.
Junior Leighton Dempster posted a career-high tying 591 air rifle score. She also shot a 591 in air rifle vs. Kentucky in the 2015-16 season (freshman).
Sophomore Levi Clark logged a 580 smallbore result, which was three points better than his 577 in last year's Tiger Open.
Clark's 580 smallbore score tied his third-best career performance in the discipline.

2017 Tiger Open

Team/Ranking	Smallbore	Air Rifle	Aggregate
Navy/#14	2297	2337	4634
Memphis/#11	2281	2314	4595

Memphis Results

Individual	Smallbore	Air Rifle	Aggregate
Levi Clark*^	580	577	1157
Leighton Dempster*^	562	591	1153
Makennon Doran*^	566	575	1141
Haylea Broughton*	573	567	1140
Amberlie Ezell^	554	571	1125
Matt Dorey	551	564	1115
Adriana Hickerson	465	578	1043