Volleyball Preview: Cincinnati, ECU

Friday, October 25

Cincinnati Ohio

6 pm CT

University of Memphis

Cincinnati*

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Oct 24, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Tigers face Bearcats, Pirates only once in regular season in 2019.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The times, they are a changin'.

The University of Memphis volleyball squad sees another first in American Athletic Conference play this weekend when the Tigers face Cincinnati and ECU on the road. For the first time since ECU joined The American in 2014, Memphis plays the Bearcats and Pirates only once in a campaign. From 2014-18, the Tigers met Cincinnati and ECU home and away in conference action.

However, as a result of the conference shifting to divisions, Memphis faces the six East Division foes only once in 2019 and host three of them at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Connecticut and Temple visited the Bluff City last weekend and USF travels to Memphis in November. The Tigers' road East opponents are Cincinnati, ECU and UCF.

Memphis plays all five West Division foes – Houston, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and Wichita State – home and away.

Memphis' American Athletic Conference Road Weekend

Date/Day	Opponent	Time (CT)
Oct. 25/Friday	at Cincinnati	6 p.m.
Oct. 27/Sunday	at ECU	11 a.m.

Memphis/Opponents Breakdown

	Memphis	Cincinnati	ECU
2019 Record	13-7, 2-6 The American	15-5, 7-1 The American	15-6, 3-5 The American
Series		Cincinnati leads 33-21	Memphis leads 22-9
Last Meeting		Cincinnati won 3-0 (in Cincinnati, 2018)	ECU won 3-0 (in Greenville, 2018)
Kills Leader	Hannah Flowers, 253	Jordan Thompson, 442	Sydney Kleinman, 261
Assists Leader	Sabrina Bianco, 800	Armania Heckenmueller, 842	Shelby Martin, 523
Digs Leader	Kaitlyn Gehler, 293	Maria Mallon, 204	Brandee Markwith, 362
Blocks Leader	Andrea O'Connor, 51	Adria Oliver, 39	Toya Osuegbu, 72
Aces Leader	Hannah Flowers, 37	Jordan Thompson, 32	Shelby Martin, 19

Associate coach Taylor Unroe comments
(On last weekend's two wins)
"Those five-set heartbreakers early in the conference schedule hurt, but it helped our team evolve much quicker than if we won or lost a match in three sets. In those five-set matches, we showed a lot of character, some grit, some fight. We wish we would have won them. To win the five-set match over UConn last Friday was a big boost. I felt we played some clean volleyball against Temple. We executed offensively and defensively against Temple."

(On Hannah Flowers)
"She had a great week in practice before we played UConn and Temple. The biggest thing for Hannah right now is to be consistent, and she worked on that all week. The results came on the court last Friday and Sunday. She had two great matches."

(On the road at Cincinnati, ECU)
"Cincinnati has Jordan Thompson on the left side, and they have a whole squad of really good players. It's rare to play a team with a high-caliber player in Jordan. She is a special athlete. They run a good system and have a disciplined team. ECU is full of scrappy, athletic players. We're excited about this weekend."

Tigers Tidbits

When Memphis and ECU meet Sunday, the match could be a long affair. Five of the last 10 match-ups have gone the distance, with the Tigers winning three of the five-setters.
Sunday's match with ECU provides a Mountain West Conference (MWC) reunion for two players. Memphis' Sabrina Bianco (New Mexico) and ECU's Marissa Harmon (Wyoming) both played in the MWC in 2018 and transferred to their respective schools for the 2019 campaign. Wyoming won both encounters with New Mexico last season. Bianco had 37 assists in the two matches. Harmon, who saw action earlier in 2018, did not play in either meeting with New Mexico.
Memphis and Cincinnati enter Friday's match as The American's top two serving teams in terms of aces. The Bearcats lead the league with 1.94 aces per set (140 aces), and the Tigers are second at 1.56 per set (120 total).
Friday's Memphis-Cincinnati match features two of the conference's top setters. The Bearcats' Armania Heckenmueller leads The American in assists per set (11.71) and Sabrina Bianco is third (10.39).
The Memphis-Cincinnati match also has two of the league's top hitters and servers facing off. Memphis' Hannah Flowers is third in hitting percentage (.334) and first in aces per set (0.49). The Bearcats' Jordan Thompson is first in hitting percentage (.338) and third in aces per set (0.44).