Volleyball Drops Five-Setter To UCF

Friday, September 29

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm CT

University of Memphis

7-8, 0-3

UCF

9-6, 2-1

UCF

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Sep 29, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Memphis-UCF Boxscore Memphis Season Statistics Memphis Conference Only Statistics

Tigers continue short homestand vs. USF Sunday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis freshmen Hannah Flowers and Tia Gleason both logged season-bests in the Tigers' American Athletic Conference home opener, but it wasn't enough in UCF's 3-2 victory Friday.

The Knights won the match by scores of 23-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-13 and 15-7. With the setback, Memphis fell to 7-8 overall and 0-3 in the conference. UCF improved to 9-6 overall and 2-1 in the league.

Flowers registered a season-high 17 kills, and Gleason had a season-best 29 assists.

Up Next
The Tigers have a quick turnaround, returning to action at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Sunday. Memphis hosts conference foe USF in a 1 p.m. (CT) match.

Memphis vs. UCF Stats Leaders

Statistic	Memphis	UCF
Kills	Hannah Flowers, 17 Natale Zanellato, 16 Kelsea Bivins, 15	Kristina Fisher, 20 Kia Bright, 17 Jeanne Westney, 11
Assists	Tia Gleason, 29 Faith Myers, 26	Erin Olson, 55
Digs	Mady Ruhlman, 26 Kelsea Bivins, 15	Kia Bright, 27 Jordan Pingel, 22
Total Blocks	Brianna Kadiku, 4	Anne-Marie Watson, 7 Taylor Wickey, 5

Tigers Tidbits

The Tigers had three players record 15 or more kills in a match for the first time this season. Hannah Flowers led Memphis with 17 kills. Natale Zanellato added 16 kills, and Kelsea Bivins 15. It was the third time this season the Tigers had three players with double-digit kills (vs. Nicholls Sept. 15; vs. UT Martin Sept. 16).
Kelsea Bivins collected a season-best 15 digs.
Faith Myers recorded her seventh double-double (assists-digs) of the season with 26 assists and 12 digs vs. UCF Friday. It was the 20^th double-double of her career.
Kelsea Bivins had her third double-double performance (kills-digs) of the season.
Tia Gleason's 29 assists led the Tigers vs. UCF. It is the first time this season she led the squad in assists.
Hannah Flowers' 17 kills were one better than her previous season-best. She had 16 kills at Eastern Illinois Aug. 26. It was her seventh double-figures kills performance of the season.
Natale Zanellato's 16 kills were one shy of tying her season-high. She had 17 in a win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff Sept. 9.

Head coach April Jauregui
"We started well tonight. In the early part of this season, we're making adjustments and trying to find the right fits. We have a young team, and so does UCF. Our team started strong. I was proud of our fight. We don't like losing a match, but we're making progress. We put together three solid sets, and now we have to learn how to sustain that and finish the match."

How It Happened

Overall Match
- The match was the Tigers' third five-setter of the season and the first in conference play. Memphis is 1-2 in five-set matches.
- The match had 14 ties and eight lead changes.
Set One (Memphis 25-23)
- The opening set had only one lead change and two ties. Both ties came in the middle of the set at 9-all and 10-all.
- Memphis got off to a slow start and fell behind 4-1.
- The Tigers continued to trail at 7-4, with four of UCF's seven points coming on Memphis service errors.
- Memphis began its push with a 5-2 run to knot the set at 9-all.
- Kills from Hannah Flowers and Natale Zanellato and a block from Flowers and Brianna Kadiku keyed the spurt.
- From that point, the Tigers took over with an 8-2 run to grab a 17-11 advantage.
- A back-to-back Kadiku kill and service ace started the spurt.
- Kills from Flowers (2), Daija Lowe and Kelsea Bivins pushed the Tigers out to the lead.
- Memphis maintained its lead at 23-16 when UCF made a final run.
- The Knights used a 7-1 spurt to close to within one at 24-23.
- Lowe ended the UCF run and the set with her third kill of the set.
Set Two (UCF 25-19)
- The set was close early with seven ties coming in the first 18 points. The last tie was at 9-all.
- The visitors from Orlando pushed out to a 15-10 advantage with a 6-1 run.
- Memphis closed to within two at 17-15 and 18-16. The Tigers received kills from Bivins (2), Flowers and Zanellato in their charge.
- UCF, though, did not allow the Tigers to get any closer the remainder of the set.
- The Knights used a 3-0 run to extend their lead to 21-16 and put the set out of reach.
Set Three (Memphis 25-19)
- The early-going had three ties in the first six points.
- Memphis then used a 7-2 run to jump out to a 10-5 advantage.
- Two Flowers kills and one kill each from Lowe and Zanellato powered the Tigers into the lead.
- The Tigers continued to hold their five-point lead at 14-9 when UCF made a push.
- The Knights used a 6-3 spurt to slice the Memphis advantage to 17-15.
- Memphis held off the Knights, and kills from Bivins and Flowers put the Tigers on the doorstep of clinching the third set at 23-19.
- Two UCF attack errors wrapped up the set for Memphis.
Set Four (UCF 25-13)
- There were no ties or lead changes in the fourth set.
- UCF jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and never trailed.
- The Knights increased their advantage to 10 points at 19-9.
- From that point, UCF went on to the set victory.
Set Five (UCF 15-7)
- The final set was tied twice early at 1-all and 2-all.
- UCF used a 7-1 run to take a 9-3 lead and control of the set.
- The Tigers did not get any closer than five points the rest of the match.