Volleyball Falls To Tulsa In Conference Opener

Friday, September 21

Tulsa, Okla.

7 pm

University of Memphis

7-6

Tulsa*

8-4

Memphis

Tulsa

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Sep 21, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Boxscore (TLS 3, UM 0)Memphis Season Statistics

Tigers continue road trip at Wichita State Sunday.

TULSA, Okla. – University of Memphis' Hannah Flowers recorded a double-double performance Friday, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers dropped a 3-0 decision to Tulsa in the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

The Golden Hurricane took the win by scores of 25-12, 25-21 and 25-21. Memphis falls to 7-6 overall and 0-1 in the conference. The setback ended the Tigers' five-match win streak. Tulsa improves to 8-4 overall and 1-0 in The American.

Flowers logged a match-high 11 kills and was second on the team with 11 digs. The double-double was her fourth of the season.

The Tigers continue their conference-opening road trip to Wichita, Kan., Sunday and face the Shockers in a 1 p.m. (CT) match.

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
"We didn't get the start we were looking for after being off for the last 10 days. Unfortunately, we made too many errors tonight, and part of that is credit to Tulsa for executing its game plan and forcing us to make adjustments. We need to reduce our errors and be more balanced offensively. We'll get back in the gym tomorrow and prepare for Wichita State on Sunday."

Tigers Tidbits

Friday's match was the first for the Tigers in 10 days. Memphis withdrew from last weekend's Dig The District Invitational due to weather concerns from Hurricane Florence. The Tigers last played Sept. 11 at Ole Miss.
The last time Memphis had a break this long between matches in a season was in 2005 when another hurricane cancelled two matches. The Tigers were off from competition for 10 days that season when Hurricane Rita forced the cancellation of matches versus Houston (in Houston) and Rice (in Memphis).
Hannah Flowers had her 10^th-straight, double-figure kills match this season with 11 kills versus Tulsa.
The double-figures kills match was Flowers' 23^rdof her career.
Flowers' 11 digs were one shy of tying her career high of 12. She had 12 digs in matches against Florida A&M and Louisiana Monroe earlier this season.
With her 12 digs Friday, Mady Ruhlman notched her 50^thmatch with double-digit digs. It is her fourth match this season with double-figures digs.
Martina Faietti logged her third multi-block performance of the season with two versus Tulsa Friday. She also had multi-block matches in wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and North Alabama.

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	Tulsa Leaders
Kills	Hannah Flowers, 11	Maggie Hembree, 10 Rachel Moore, 10
Assists	Molly Murrihy, 19	Mariah Pardo, 27
Digs	Mady Ruhlman, 12	Taylor Horsfall, 16
Blocks	Martina Faietti, 2 Hannah Flowers, 2	Rachel Moore, 4
Aces	Anna Palmer, 1	Emily Thorson, 2

Set One

The Golden Hurricane jumped out to an 11-1 lead and never trailed in the set. Emily Thorson served eight-straight points in an 8-0 run for Tulsa.
Hannah Flowers had four kills in the set to lead Memphis.
The closest the Tigers got was to within 10 points on four occasions down the stretch.

Set Two

The second game was the most competitive of the three with eight ties and three lead changes.
The Tigers gained an early advantage at 6-4 on a Flowers' kill.
Memphis extended its lead to four at 10-6 on an Anna Palmer kill.
The Golden Hurricane answered with an 8-4 run to tie the set at 14-all.
Tulsa then continued its spurt with a 3-1 mini-run to take a 17-15 lead.
The Tigers tied the set two more times at 18-all on a Sarah Marlatt kill and at 19-all on a Molly Murrihy kill.
Tulsa used a final 6-2 surge to take the set 25-21.

Set Three

As they did in the opening set, the Golden Hurricane grabbed an early lead and never trailed in the set.
Tulsa jumped out to a 6-0 lead, with four points coming off Memphis errors.
The Tigers responded with a 9-4 run to pull to within one at 10-9.
Flowers accounted for six of the Tigers' nine points in the spurt with four kills and two blocks.
The Golden Hurricane then put together an 8-5 spurt to push out to an 18-14 lead.
Tulsa maintained that edge the rest of the way for the 25-21 set win and 3-0 match victory.