Volleyball Posts 3-2 Win Over SMU Sunday

Sunday, October 14

Memphis, Tenn.

1 pm

University of Memphis

9-10, 2-5

SMU* (Breast Cancer Awareness Match)

6-11, 3-4

SMU

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Oct 14, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Boxscore (UM 3, SMU 2)Memphis Season Statistics (Overall)Memphis Season Statistics (Conference Only)

Flowers, Murrihy, Palmer with double-doubles lead the way.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis' Hannah Flowers, Molly Murrihy and Anna Palmer each recorded double-doubles in leading the Tigers to a 3-2 American Athletic Conference victory over SMU at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Sunday.

Memphis won the match by scores of 27-25, 23-25, 25-20, 22-25 and 15-13. The victory is the Tigers' second-straight and improves their record to 9-10 overall and 2-5 in The American. SMU drops to 6-11 overall and 3-4 in the conference.

Flowers logged her sixth career double-double with a career-high tying 20 kills and 10 digs. Murrihy's double-double of 53 assists and 17 digs was her seventh of the season, and Palmer's 13-kill, 20-dig double-double was her second of the season.

Up Next
After a five-match homestand, Memphis heads on the road next weekend for matches at Temple and Connecticut. The Tigers visit the Owls in Philadelphia, Pa., for a 6 p.m. (CT) match Friday and then move on to Storrs, Conn., for a 11 a.m. (CT) Sunday match with the Huskies. The Oct. 19 match at Temple is the Tigers' first road encounter since Sept. 23.

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
"I'm super proud of this group of young women. What they had to go through with a little losing streak and to keep plugging away. I'm proud of them. The staff has worked so hard. We came out here and grinded one out in five sets today.

"A couple of things stood out today. Molly's (Murrihy) choices in terms of leading us as a setter; she's growing and getting better in making really good choices at critical times. Our defensive effort and keeping balls in play was really key for us today. We had five players with double-digits in digs. The willingness for people to step up and take big swings at critical times was also big."

Tigers Tidbits

Hannah Flowers posted her 16^thdouble-digit kills match of the season with her career-high tying 20 kills Sunday. It was the 28^thdouble-figures kills match of her career.
Flowers led Memphis in kills for the 12^thtime this season.
Flowers tied a career-high with six total blocks. She had six total blocks versus Central Arkansas Sept. 1.
Five players – Anna Palmer (20), Kaitlyn Gehler (18), Mady Ruhlman (16), Molly Murrihy (17) and Hannah Flowers (10) – posted double-digit digs Sunday. It was the second-straight match the Tigers had four or more players with double-figures digs.
Kelsey Walter had a career-high tying 10 total blocks vs. SMU. She first had 10 total blocks versus Central Arkansas Sept. 1. It was her 10^thmatch this season with five or more total blocks.
Molly Murrihy had a career-high 53 assists Sunday for her 12^thmatch of the season with 30 or more assists.
Kaitlyn Gehler collected 18 digs Sunday for her ninth match of the season with 15 or more digs.
In her second match back, Mady Ruhlman collected 16 digs versus SMU. It was her fourth double-digit digs performance in the last five matches in which she played.
Anna Palmer, also in her second match back after illness, had a monster performance. Palmer logged a season-best 13 kills and collected a career-high 20 digs. Her previous career-high for digs was 14 as a freshman at Seattle University in 2017. Palmer's career-best for kills is 15 at Seattle last season.

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	SMU Leaders
Kills	Hannah Flowers, 20	Ryan Palmieri, 16
Assists	Molly Murrihy, 53	Kendall Patterson, 33
Digs	Anna Palmer, 20	Montana Watts, 28
Blocks	Kelsey Walter, 10	Lexi Nordmann, 5
Aces	Anna Palmer, 3	Brittany Adams, 2

Set One

SMU jumped out to a 6-3 early on two service aces and one Memphis service error.
Memphis answered, and after a Sarah Marlatt ace, the score was tied at 9-all.
The Mustangs pushed out to another three-point lead at 15-12.
The Tigers, once again, responded to knot the set at 16-all on a Hannah Flowers ace.
SMU used a 6-3 run to grab a 22-19 advantage.
After an exchange of points, the Mustangs were on the doorstep of taking the opening set with a 24-21 lead.
Memphis answered with two Anna Palmer kills and a Kaitlyn Gehler ace to tie the set at 24-all.
After SMU moved into the lead at 25-24, the Tigers responded with three-straight points – including two on kills from Flowers and Marlatt – to take the set 27-25.

Set Two

The set remained close in the first 16 points with four ties and the last coming at 8-all.
SMU then put together a 9-1 spurt to grab a commanding 17-9 advantage.
The Mustangs maintained their large lead and held a 21-12 lead when the Tigers made an incredible run.
Memphis went on a 6-2 spurt to cut the SMU lead to 23-18.
Palmer, Flowers and Kelsea Bivins each logged a kill in the run.
A Mustangs kill gave the visitors a 24-18 lead and set point on their serve.
The Tigers, however, saved five set points to pull to within one at 24-23.
Memphis scored all five points on SMU attack errors.
SMU, though, halted the run for the 25-23 win.

Set Three

SMU took the early lead and steadily moved out to a four-point advantage at 11-7.
The Mustangs held a 12-9 lead when the Tigers responded.
Memphis used a 4-1 run – keyed by two Flowers kills – to knot the set at 13-all.
SMU pushed out to another three-point advantage at 16-13, but Memphis answered with a run to stay in front for good.
The Tigers scored the next six points to take a 19-16 advantage.
Two Bivins kills and two Palmer service aces ignited the Memphis surge.
Memphis maintained its lead the remainder of the set and won 25-20.

Set Four

The set was the most competitive of the match with 15 ties and the largest lead of three points.
In the set's first 36 points, each side held a two-point advantage, and there were 15 ties, with the last coming at 18-all.
SMU then went on a 3-0 spurt to gain a 21-18 lead that it did not lose.
Kills from Palmer and Flowers pulled Memphis to within one at 21-20.
The Mustangs remained in front the rest of the way for the 25-22 set win.

Set Five

Memphis fell behind early by a 3-0 score in the deciding set.
The Tigers responded with an 8-4 run to take an 8-7 lead at the switch.
Flowers (3), Palmer (2) and Bivins (1) all had kills to help push Memphis into the lead.
After the Mustangs tied the score at 8-all, Memphis went on a 3-0 run to gain some breathing room at 11-8.
Consecutive kills from Walter and a block from Walter and Flowers keyed the spurt.
SMU answered with a 3-1 run to climb back to within one at 12-11.
A Flowers kill halted the SMU surge and gave Memphis a 13-11 lead.
Palmer followed with a kill to give the Tigers a 14-11 advantage and match point.
SMU cut the Tigers' lead to 14-13, but a Mustangs attack error gave Memphis a 15-13 set win and the 3-2 match victory.