Volleyball Drops 3-2 Decision Friday

Friday, November 9

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm

University of Memphis

11-15, 4-10

Connecticut*

13-14, 5-9

Connecticut

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Nov 09, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

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

Bivins goes over 500 kills in her two-year Memphis career.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis' Hannah Flowers, Kelsea Bivins and Anna Palmer each had double-digit kills Friday, but Connecticut came away with the 3-2 American Athletic Conference win.

The Huskies dropped the first two sets and came back to take the last three and win the match by scores of 18-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22 and 15-12. Memphis falls to 11-15 overall and 4-10 in the league. Connecticut improves to 13-14 overall and 5-9 in the conference.

Palmer led Memphis with 14 kills. Flowers and Bivins each added 13 kills.

Up Next
The Tigers are back in action at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Sunday at 12 p.m. (CT) when they host American Athletic Conference foe Temple. Prior to the match, Memphis will hold Senior Day ceremonies at approximately 11:45 a.m. (CT). The five seniors to be honored are: Kelsea Bivins, Martina Faietti, Sarah Marlatt, Mady Ruhlman and Kelsey Walter.

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
"I was disappointed we didn't get the chance to close that out. They ended up having a hot player, and we struggled to stop her. At the end of the day, we have to keep control of the ball. We came up short at the end with our serve-receive. Unfortunately, we had too many unforced errors. It was a good job by UConn tonight. We have to regroup and try to get after Temple Sunday."

Tigers Tidbits

Kelsea Bivins went over the 500-kills plateau for her two-year Memphis career Friday. She entered the weekend with 494 career kills and now has 507.
Kelsea Bivins had 13 kills Friday. It was the eighth time in the last 10 matches Bivins recorded double-digit kills.
Hannah Flowers posted her 23^rddouble-digit kills match of the season with her 13 kills Friday. It was the 35^thdouble-figures kills match of her career.
Sarah Marlatt tied a season-high with six total blocks Friday. She also had six blocks at SMU Nov. 2.
Molly Murrihy had 45 assists vs. Connecticut for her 17^thmatch with 30 or more assists this season.
Kaitlyn Gehler had 20 digs Friday and has 196 digs in her last 11 matches (17.8/match). She has double-digit digs in 10 of those 11 matches.

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	Connecticut Leaders
Kills	Anna Palmer, 14 Hannah Flowers, 13 Kelsea Bivins, 13	Caylee Parker, 23 Danielle Cabel, 12 Iman McGary, 11
Assists	Molly Murrihy, 45	Emma Turner, 36
Digs	Kaitlyn Gehler, 20	Elizabeth Kline, 24
Blocks	Sarah Marlatt, 6	Kennadie Jake-Turner, 3
Aces	Kelsea Bivins, 2 Kaitlyn Gehler, 2	Iman McGary, 3

Set One

The Huskies jumped out to a 4-1 lead.
Memphis used a 10-5 run to gain an 11-9 advantage.
Kelsea Bivins and Anna Palmer each had two kills in the surge.
Memphis continued its solid play and extended its lead to 17-11.
Bivins, Palmer and Hannah Flowers each had a kill, and Kaitlyn Gehler added an ace in the run.
Connecticut cut the lead to four on three occasions down the stretch, but got no closer.
Memphis took the first set 25-18.

Set Two

Memphis grabbed the early 9-4 advantage.
Three Palmer kills ignited the Tigers' run.
The Huskies answered with a 5-0 spurt to knot the set at 9-all.
Connecticut then extended out to a 17-13 advantage.
The Huskies maintained their four-point lead at 19-15 when Memphis made a final push.
Memphis used a 5-0 run to take a 20-19 lead.
A Palmer kill and a Sarah Marlatt-Molly Murrihy block keyed the run.
After an exchange of points, the set was tied at 23-all.
A Bivins kill gave the Tigers match point at 24-23.
Kelsey Walter sealed the second set with a kill for the 25-23 victory.

Set Three

The Huskies took the early 9-4 lead.
Connecticut extended its advantage to seven at 16-9.
The Huskies were ahead at 20-14 when the Tigers made their move.
Memphis put together a 6-1 run to close to within one at 21-20.
Palmer, Murrihy and Bivins had kills in the spurt.
The Huskies pushed out to a 22-20 advantage.
A Bivins kill tied the set at 23-all.
The Huskies won the set's final two points for the 25-23 victory.

Set Four

Memphis had an early lead, but Connecticut fought back to take a 12-9 advantage.
The Huskies remained in front until the Tigers tied the set at 18-all.
Connecticut pushed back out in front 22-19.
Memphis pulled to within one point twice down the stretch on kills from Marlatt (22-21) and Walter (23-22).
The Huskies won the last two points for the 25-22 set win.

Set Five

The early play went back-and-forth with seven ties in the first 14 points.
After a Bivins kill gave Memphis an 8-7 lead, the Huskies went on a 5-1 run to regain the advantage at 12-9.
The Tigers got no closer than two points the rest of the way.
Connecticut won the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.