Volleyball Sweeps Temple Sunday

Sunday, October 20

Memphis, Tenn.

1 pm CT

University of Memphis

12-8,8-0AAC

Temple* (Alumni Weekend)

10-9,8-0AAC

Temple

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Oct 20, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Birkel, Hayes set career-bests in kills; Flowers hits for career-high percentage.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis freshmen Anna Hayes and Jada Birkel both recorded career-bests in kills to help lead the Tigers to their second-straight American Athletic Conference victory, this time a 3-0 sweep of Temple at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Sunday afternoon. The contest was a part of Memphis volleyball's Alumni Weekend.

Memphis won the match by scores of 25-17, 25-18 and 25-20. With the win, the Tigers improved to 13-7 overall and 2-6 in the league. The Owls now are 10-9 overall and 1-7 in the conference.

Hayes posted her first career double-figures kills match with 11. Birkel had a career-high nine kills after she downed a previous-best eight in Friday's win over Connecticut.

Up Next
Memphis goes back out on the road in American Athletic Conference play next weekend. The Tigers travel to Cincinnati Friday and ECU Sunday.

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
(On the two wins this weekend)
"It's certainly a great step for us. We lost a couple of five-setters early in conference play. We've had to battle through that and figure out the little things we needed to do. This weekend showed us what we can do when we put it all together and have complete games."

(On playing Anna Hayes this weekend)
"It all comes in practice. We've told them that you can't flip a switch and all of a sudden be good on the weekend. You have to be good every day of the week. She's not only worked hard in practice, but has come in on her own. That's really paid off for her."

Tigers Tidbits

The win over Temple was only Memphis' third in the series.
The weekend sweep of Connecticut and Temple was the first time Memphis defeated both programs in the same season since The American formed prior to the 2013 campaign.
Hannah Flowers followed up her career-high kills match (22) versus Connecticut Friday with her career-best hitting percentage match (.824) against Temple Sunday.
Hannah Flowers' .824 hitting percentage is the second-highest for a match by an American Athletic Conference player this season.
Hannah Flowers' .824 hitting percentage is the highest by a player in a conference (AAC vs. AAC) match this season.
Hannah Flowers' .824 hitting percentage is the third-highest for a three-set match in American Athletic Conference history.
Hannah Flowers' .824 hitting percentage is the second-highest for a three-set conference only match (AAC vs. AAC) in American Athletic Conference history.
Hannah Flowers' .824 hitting percentage surpassed her previous-best .586 that she recorded in a three-set win over IUPUI earlier this season.
Hannah Flowers' .824 hitting percentage is her best performance in a conference match, surpassing her previous-best of .476 that she hit versus Temple in 2018 (three sets).
Sabrina Bianco posted her 11^th40-plus assists match of the season (43 assists). It was the 12^thof her career.

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	Temple Leaders
Kills	Hannah Flowers, 14	Gem Grimshaw, 8
Assists	Sabrina Bianco, 43	Tyler Lindgren, 16
Digs	Kaitlyn Gehler, 16	Averi Salvador, 8
Aces	Anna Palmer, 1	Two players, 1
Blocks	Andrea O'Connor, 4	Baleigh Jean-Philippe, 4

First Set

Temple grabbed a slim advantage early and held it through the set's first 19 points. The Owls had their largest lead at 10-8 in the early-going.
Memphis used an 8-1 run to take a 16-11 lead. The Tigers didn't trail the remainder of the set.
Hannah Flowers and Andrea O'Connor each had two kills in the spurt.
Temple closed to within three at 18-15, but got no closer.
Kills from Anna Palmer and Jada Birkel pushed the Memphis lead back to five at 20-15.
The Tigers wrapped up the set with a 5-2 spurt for the 25-17 win.
Birkel (one kill) and Anna Hayes (two) paced the last Tigers' run.

Second Set

Much like the first set, Temple took the early advantage and led 7-6.
Then, again like the first set, the Tigers slowly turned the complexion of the set with a run.
Memphis used a 12-3 spurt to take a commanding 18-10 lead.
The Tigers scored nine of the 12 points in the run off kills.
Flowers had seven of her eight kills in the set during the spurt.
The Owls fought back and cut the Memphis lead to three at 19-16, but did not close any further.
Birkel (one kill) and Hayes (two) ignited Memphis' final run for the 25-18 final

Third Set

Memphis jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never trailed.
The Tigers extended their lead to seven at 11-4.
Five different Tigers recorded at least one kill in Memphis first 11 points of the set.
Memphis maintained its advantage, but Temple put together a 5-2 spurt to pull to within five at 20-15.
A Birkel kill ended the run and gave Memphis a 21-15 lead.
The Tigers closed out the set on a Birkel kill. Memphis won the set 25-20 and the match 3-0.