Volleyball Preview: Tulane

Wednesday, November 21

New Orleans, La.

1 pm

University of Memphis

Tulane*

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Nov 20, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

Tigers wrap up 2018 season against the Green Wave in New Orleans Wednesday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis volleyball wraps up its 2018 season Wednesday with an American Athletic Conference road match at Tulane. Match time is 1 p.m. (CT) at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans.

The Tigers and Green Wave are road partners in the American Athletic Conference and last played each other in early October. Tulane won that match 3-1 at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Oct. 5.

Memphis/Opponent Breakdown

	Memphis	Tulane
2018 Record	11-18, 4-13 The American	24-8, 12-5 The American
Series		UM leads 30-20
Last Meeting/2019		Tulane 3-1 win (@Memphis)
Kills Leader	Hannah Flowers, 365	Erika Hansel, 292
Assists Leader	Molly Murrihy, 999	Taylor Henigsman, 684
Digs Leader	Kaitlyn Gehler, 378	Kaylie McHugh, 518
Blocks Leader	Kelsey Walter, 121	Dayna Kern, 128
Aces Leader	Hannah Flowers, 45	Kaylie McHugh, 56

Tigers Tidbits

Memphis leads the all-time series 30-20 and has won nine of the last 11. The Tigers had an eight-match win streak in the series, before the Green Wave ended it in 2016 with a 3-0 victory in New Orleans (Nov. 11, 2016). The Tigers won last year's encounter, a 3-2 thriller in New Orleans. Tulane earlier 2018's earlier match-up 3-1 in Memphis.
Wednesday's match closes a stretch where the Tigers played five of their last seven on the road. Memphis opened the month of November with road matches at SMU and Houston. After a home weekend Nov. 9-11, Memphis wrapped up 2018 on the road at ECU, Cincinnati and Tulane.
Last season, the Memphis-Tulane match took a crazy turn before it was played. The two longtime conference rivals were schedule to play Oct. 8, 2017, but Hurricane Nathan caused the match to be postponed. The match was rescheduled for Oct. 17, forcing Memphis and Tulane to play three league matches in a five-day span. The Tigers won the make-up match 3-2.
Five Tigers seniors will play their final collegiate matches Wednesday. They are: Kelsea Bivins, Martina Faietti, Sarah Marlatt, Mady Ruhlman and Kelsey Walter.
Wednesday's match features two of the conference's top servers and blockers. Tulane's Kaylie McHugh set the league's season record for aces with 56, and Memphis' Hannah Flowers is second behind McHugh with 45 aces in 2018. In total blocks, the Green Wave's Dayna Kern leads the conference with 128 blocks, and the Tigers' Kelsey Walter is eighth with 121 blocks.
Senior Kelsea Bivins went over the 500-kills milestone Nov. 9. She now has 531 kills for her two-year career at Memphis. Bivins transferred to Memphis from Wallace State Community College in Alabama prior to the 2017 season.
Sophomore Hannah Flowers leads the team and is second in the conference with 45 service aces. It is the most service aces by a Tiger in a season since Christine Bach served 47 aces in 2008.
Hannah Flowers also has 365 kills this season, the most by a Tiger in a campaign since 2014 when Kate Gibson had 380 kills. Flowers has 622 kills in her two seasons.
Kelsea Bivins and Hannah Flowers improved their offensive production by over 100 kills from 2017. Flowers knocked down 257 kills as a freshman in 2017 and has 365 this season. Bivins had 202 kills as a junior last season and has 329 in 2018.
Freshman Molly Murrihy has 999 assists this season, the most by a Tiger in a campaign since 2014 when Veronica Zimmerman had 1,397 assists.
Senior Kelsey Walter brings 121 blocks into Wednesday's match. The 121 blocks has nearly doubled her blocks total (71) from her first three seasons combined.
Senior Mady Ruhlman reached the 1,000-digs milestone earlier this season, and she now has 1,113 career digs. Ruhlman has 52 career double-digit digs matches.
This week, four Tigers rank in the top-10 in four statistical categories in The American, and they are: Hannah Flowers (5^th) and Kelsea Bivins (8^th) in kills; Molly Murrihy (1^st) in assists; Flowers (2^nd) in service aces; and Kelsey Walter (8^th) in total blocks.