Volleyball Drops 3-2 Decision Wednesday

Wednesday, August 29

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm

University of Memphis

1-3

Alabama A&M

3-2

Alabama A&M

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Aug 29, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Boxscore (AAMU 3, UM 2)Memphis Season Statistics

Flowers with 16 kills, career-high five aces in the setback.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis' Hannah Flowers, Sarah Marlatt and Kelsea Bivins each logged double-digit kills performances Wednesday night, but it wasn't enough in a 3-2 setback to Alabama A&M at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.

The Lady Bulldogs took the five-setter by scores of 16-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-17 and 15-13. With the loss, Memphis falls to 1-3. Alabama A&M improves to 3-2.

Flowers had a match-best 16 kills, and Marlatt added 14 kills and Bivins 10. Sophomore transfer Anna Palmer was one kill shy of reaching double figures with nine.

Memphis is back in action this weekend when it travels to Martin, Tenn., for the Skyhawk Invitational. The Tigers face Florida A&M and host UT Martin Friday and Central Arkansas and UAB Saturday.

Tigers Tidbits

Sarah Marlatt logged a career-high 14 kills. Her previous high was nine kills in four matches last season (vs. Green Bay, at USF, Temple, at Tulsa).
Hannah Flowers' 16 kills were one shy of tying her career high of 17. It was the 14^thdouble-digit kills match of her career and her second this season.
Flowers registered a career-high five service aces vs. Alabama A&M. Her previous best was four in three matches, including twice last weekend.
Molly Murrihy had a season-high 39 assists Wednesday.
Kaitlyn Gehler had double-digit digs for the third time this season with 16 vs. the Lady Bulldogs.

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
"Tonight was not the way we wanted it to go. I was disappointed in terms of our selection offensively. Give credit to Alabama A&M; they wanted to win every point. They worked hard for every point and put themselves in position to win. We got some points, went up and kind of let off the throttle. We've got to correct that in practice by finishing points and finishing everything we do."

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	Alabama A&M Leaders
Kills	Hannah Flowers, 16 Sarah Marlatt, 14	Alana Cox, 14 Maya Evans, 13
Assists	Molly Murrihy, 39	Megan Evans, 36
Digs	Kaitlyn Gehler, 16	Maci Battle, 20
Blocks	Kelsey Walter, 2	Alana Cox, 3 Maya Evans, 3

Set One

The opening set was the Hannah Flowers' show with five kills on five attempts (1.000 hitting percentage), five service aces and two digs. Flowers accounted for 10 of the Tigers' 25 points in the set.
Memphis jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never trailed.
After Alabama A&M pulled to with 5-3, three-straight Flowers' points (1 kill/2 aces) extended the Tigers' advantage to 8-3.
Memphis maintained its lead the rest of the way, with the Lady Bulldogs getting no closer than four points (12-8).
Another Flowers' three-point stretch (2 aces/1 kill) pushed the Tigers' lead to 22-12.
Memphis took the first set 25-16.

Set Two

The Lady Bulldogs responded in a big way early in the set, running out to an 11-5 advantage.
The set was tied 3-all early, but Alabama A&M used an 8-2 run to grab the lead.
Memphis cut the Lady Bulldogs' lead to four at 19-15 on a Sarah Marlatt kill, but that was as close as the Tiger got in the set.
Alabama A&M wrapped up the set on a 6-3 run for the 25-18 win.

Set Three

Memphis played from behind the first half of the set with only two one-point leads in the first 26 points (3-2, 4-3).
Molly Murrihy (1 block/2 aces) and Marlatt (2 kills) kept the Tigers within striking distance.
After knotting the set at 13-all on an Anna Palmer kill, Memphis went on a 4-0 run to take a 17-13 advantage.
The Lady Bulldogs cut the Tigers' lead to 18-17, but Memphis used a 4-1 run to extend its lead to 22-18 and put the set out of reach. Kills from Palmer, Murrihy and Kelsea Bivins keyed the spurt.
The Tigers won the set 25-21.

Set Four

Much like Set 2, Alabama A&M grabbed the early lead – this time 11-4 – and never looked back.
Serving was issue for the Tigers in the set with five service errors.
The Tigers closed to within five points two times down the stretch at 20-15 and 21-16, but were unable to cut further into the lead.
Alabama A&M finished the set on a 4-1 run for the 25-17 final.

Set Five

The deciding set was close in the first 13 points, with Alabama A&M holding a 7-6 lead.
Bre Carlton had back-to-back kills to keep the Tigers close.
The Lady Bulldogs then went on a 3-1 run to give them some breathing room at 10-7.
Memphis, though, battled back and knotted the set at 13-all on consecutive kills from Meredith Wallace.
Alabama A&M netted the last two points on Tigers' errors to take the set and match.