Volleyball Wins Thriller In Wichita Sunday

Sunday, November 10

Wichita, Kan.

1 pm CT

University of Memphis

16-10,5-9AAC

Wichita State*

7-19,4-10AAC

Memphis

Wichita St.

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Nov 10, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Birkel posts career-high in kills, including match-winner.

WICHITA, Kan. – University of Memphis' Jada Birkel downed a career-high in kills, including the match-winner, to lift the Tigers to a thrilling 3-2 American Athletic Conference road victory over Wichita State Sunday.

Memphis won the match by scores of 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 19-25 and 16-14. With the win, the Tigers are now 16-10 overall and 5-9 in the league. Wichita State falls to 7-19 overall and 4-10 in the conference.

Birkel posted a career-high 15 kills in Sunday's match. Her previous career-best was 12 kills versus SMU Nov. 1. Birkel not only scored the match-winner, but also downed the kill to give the Tigers match-point on their serve.

Sabrina Bianco had 51 assists and 19 digs in the match, marking the fifth-straight outing she recorded a double-double. It was her 12^thdouble-double of the season and 18^thof her career.

Flowers posted her 20^thdouble-figures kills match of the season, including the last five matches in a row. It was her fifth-straight match with 18 or more kills.

Up Next
The Tigers return home for their final regular-season matches next weekend. Memphis hosts Houston Friday and Tulane Sunday. Both matches are at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, and admission is free.

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
"What a great team road win today! Wichita is a tough place and environment to play in with their arena, band and fans.

"Sabrina distributed the ball well today, and we made the key plays down the stretch. Hannah was a clutch 'go-to' hitter today, and Jada really took big-time pressure swings, especially in the deciding set. Caitlin started and ended the match today and was a force at the net. She's another player that stepped in and gave great effort and results.

"Lastly, the defense by Kaitlyn was spot on during the match. She really made some key digs against their big hitters down the stretch. Great to get a win before coming back home this week!"

Tigers Tidbits

Caitlin Schultz had 10 kills Sunday for her fourth double-figures kills match of the season. It is her first double-digit kills performance in conference play in 2019.
Sabrina Bianco had 51 assists Sunday for her 17^th40-assists match of her career. Sixteen of the 17 40-assists performances have come this season.
Sabrina Bianco went over the 1,000 assists plateau for the season in Friday's match at Tulsa and now has 1,055 assists.
Hannah Flowers is closing in on 1,000 kills for a career. After Sunday's match, the junior right side hitter has 977 career kills.
Sunday's match (30 digs) was the 38^thdouble-figures digs match of Gehler's career and her 20^thof the season. Gehler has posted double-digit digs in 18 of the Tigers' last 19 matches.
Kaitlyn Gehler's 30-digs performance Sunday gives her six matches of 20 or more digs this season.
Kaitlyn Gehler's 30-digs match was her second career performance of 30 or more digs. She had a career-high 33 digs in a win over ECU in 2018.

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	Wichita State Leaders
Kills	Hannah Flowers, 19	Megan Taflinger, 17
Assists	Sabrina Bianco, 51	Kayce Litzau, 30
Digs	Kaitlyn Gehler, 30	Kara Bown, 23
Aces	Hannah Flowers, 3	Sophia Rohling, 2
Blocks	Jada Birkel, 4	Sophia Rohling, 5 Chinelo Ogogor, 5

First Set

The set was close early with a Jada Birkel kill tying the score at 5-all.
The Shockers then used a 6-1 run to take an 11-6 lead.
Wichita State increased its advantage to 14-8 when the Tigers made a run.
The Tigers put together an 8-1 spurt to take a 16-15 lead.
Four different Tigers recorded a kill in the run, including two from Caitlin Schultz.
Wichita State regained its composure and pushed out to a 20-17 lead.
Memphis answered back and tied the set at 21-all on a Meredith Wallace kill.
The Tigers tied the set at 22-all and 23-all, but never got the lead again.
The Shockers won the final two points for the 25-23 win.

Second Set

Memphis grabbed an 11-3 lead to start the set.
Hannah Flowers' three kills and one service ace ignited the Tigers' spurt.
Schultz added a kill and a block, Birkel had two blocks in the run.
Wichita State responded with its run and cut the Memphis advantage to 13-12.
The Tigers pushed back out to a 16-12 lead and never trailed.
Memphis extended its lead to 22-17 on a Schultz kill.
The Shockers closed to within two at 22-20, but got no closer.
Kills from Wallace and Birkel gave the Tigers the 25-21 set win.

Third Set

The Tigers took the early lead and held it much of opening half of the set.
After an 8-all tie, Memphis grabbed a 15-11 advantage.
Two Flowers kills paced the Memphis run.
Wichita State pulled to within two at 16-14, but Memphis had an answer once again.
A kill and an ace from Flowers and a kill from Kaitlyn Gehler gave the Tigers some breathing room.
The Shockers pulled to within one at 20-19, but did not get the equalizer.
Memphis finished off the set with a 5-2 run for the 25-21 win.
Flowers and Wallace each had two kills down the stretch.

Fourth Set

Wichita State took an early advantage at 8-4, but the Tigers answered to knot the set at 10-all.
After tying the set five more times – the last at 17-all – the Shockers started to pull away.
Wichita State pushed out to a 19-17 lead, but Memphis cut the Shockers' lead to 19-18.
The Shockers closed out the set on a 6-1 run for the 25-19 win.

Fifth Set

The set was close throughout, but Wichita State gained the upper hand first with a 10-7 lead.
The Tigers tied the set at 10-all on a Flowers kill.
After Wichita State took an 11-10 lead, Memphis went on a 3-0 run for a 13-11 advantage.
Kills from Flowers (2) and Schultz (1) pushed the Tigers in front.
The Shockers tied the set at 13-all and again at 14-all.
Memphis secured the set and match on back-to-back kills from Birkel.