Volleyball Preview: Houston, Tulane

Friday, November 15

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm CT

University of Memphis

Houston* (Parents Day)

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Nov 14, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Caitlin Schultz to be honored on Senior Day prior to Sunday's match.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis volleyball team ends its conference portion of the 2019 schedule the same way it began. But hopefully a different venue provides different outcomes.

The Tigers welcome to the Elma Roane Fieldhouse this weekend Houston and Tulane, the two teams Memphis started conference play against in late September. However, those two matches were on the road and both ended in narrow 3-2 setbacks. Memphis looks to change its fortunes and close the regular season on a winning note.

On Sunday, the Tigers will hold Senior Day ceremonies prior to the Tulane match. Memphis will honor its lone "senior" in graduate student Caitlin Schultz.

Memphis' American Athletic Conference Home Weekend

Date/Day	Opponent	Time (CT)
Nov. 15/Friday	Houston (Parents Day)	7 p.m.
Nov. 17/Sunday	Tulane (Senior Day)	2 p.m.

Memphis/Opponents Breakdown

	Memphis	Houston	Tulane
2019 Record	16-10, 5-9 The American	15-14, 9-5 The American	19-8, 9-5 The American
Series		Houston leads 29-16	UofM leads 30-22
Last Meeting		Houston won 3-2 (in Houston, 2019)	Tulane won 3-2 (in New Orleans, 2019)
Kills Leader	Hannah Flowers, 355	Megan Duncan, 321	Lexie Douglas, 309
Assists Leader	Sabrina Bianco, 1,055	Abby Irvine, 909	Amanda Giardina, 552
Digs Leader	Kaitlyn Gehler, 412	Katie Karbo, 638	Kaylie McHugh, 475
Blocks Leader	Andrea O'Connor, 66	Rachel Tullos, 154	Kayla Dinkins, 150
Aces Leader	Hannah Flowers, 48	Abbie Jackson, 25	Kaylie McHugh, 38

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
(On Houston)
"They're a very good team in terms of organization and system and staying with their game plan. They're a really good defensive team. They have good tenacity all around. They just keep attacking you from different places."

(On Tulane)
"They have moved people around possibly due to injuries. But, they are always able find pieces that fit, people that will step up to the plate and really go after it. Both teams (Tulane, Houston) are tough match-ups in terms of getting out there and finding out we can do to win points. We battled right down to the wire last time, and we're excited to get after it again."

(On Caitlin Schultz, Senior Day honoree)
"It's fantastic to have Caitlin here, for her to come down from Milwaukee and place her mark on this program in such a short amount of time. And it's not just stuff that comes on the court. It's everything she brings in terms of her experience, leadership. She's brought so many things to this program."

Tigers Tidbits

The Tigers are playing a doubleheader with the women's basketball team Sunday. The basketball game starts the doubleheader with a 10:30 a.m. (CT) non-conference contest against George Washington. The volleyball match versus Tulane follows at 2 p.m. (CT).
This isn't the first time the two programs have played a doubleheader. The volleyball and women's basketball teams last played a full weekend doubleheader in November 2014. The Tigers and Tigers played back-to-back on Nov. 14 and 16, 2014.
Graduate student Caitlin Schultz is the lone "senior" to be honored prior to Sunday's match. Schultz, a transfer from the University of Milwaukee, joined the Tigers program after a year away from playing volleyball in 2018. This season, Schultz has played in 50 sets and has 87 kills and 19 total blocks.
Another Kaitlyn – as in Kaitlyn Gehler – is close to breaking in the Memphis top-10 list for digs in a season. Gehler, who was named to The American Weekly Honor Roll Nov. 11, enters this weekend's play with 412 digs in 2019. She needs only nine digs to place her name on that season list.
Hannah Flowers enters this weekend needing only 15 kills to reach 1,000 for her career. When reached, she becomes the 25^thplayer in program history to reach the milestone. Flowers has 985 career kills.
If Hannah Flowers reaches 1,000 career kills this weekend, it will be the first time the Tigers have had a player reach 1,000 career kills and another player have 1,000 assists in a season since 2011. Sophomore setter Sabrina Bianco already has 1,055 assists in 2019. In that 2011 season, Altrese Hawkins went over 1,000 kills for her career and Hajnalka Molnar handed out 1,424 assists in that campaign.
Hannah Flowers (355 kills) and Meredith Wallace (302) each have more than 300 kills in 2019, giving Memphis back-to-back seasons with two players of 300-plus kills. Last season, Flowers (373) and Kelsea Bivins (336) went over that plateau. It is the first time Memphis has had consecutive seasons with two players downing more than 300 kills since Altrese Hawkins and Marija Jovanovic did so in 2011 and 2012.
Memphis has had recent success in both series with Tulane and Houston. The Tigers have won nine of the last 13 encounters with Tulane. The Green Wave, however, have taken the last three. In the Houston series, Memphis has won six of the previous nine match-ups.
If some of the returning Tigers do a double-take when they look at the Houston bench, don't be alarmed. Memphis faces a familiar foe in Houston and also a familiar opposing head coach in David Rehr, who previously led the Arkansas State program from 2012-18.