Volleyball Wins Regular-Season Finale Sunday

Sunday, November 17

Memphis, Tenn.

2 pm CT

University of Memphis

17-11,6-10AAC

Tulane* (Senior Day)

20-9,10-6AAC

Tulane

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Nov 17, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Tigers send Caitlin Schultz out a winner on Senior Day.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – It's always nice to go out a winner. Especially on your Senior Day.

University of Memphis volleyball graduate student Caitlin Schultz did that Sunday in helping her Tigers to a 3-0 American Athletic Conference victory over Tulane in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Memphis swept the match by scores of 25-17, 25-23 and 25-23. With the win, the Tigers are 17-11 overall and 6-10 in the league. The Green Wave drop to 20-9 overall and 10-6 in the conference.

Schultz posted five kills on the afternoon, including the game winner at the end of the second set to give the Tigers a 2-0 match lead.

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
(On ending the regular season with a win)
"Any time you can finish a season with a win you've made progress. For us, it was more of a statement piece of where we're going as a program. It would have been easy to pack up and let Tulane have one. We came out firing on all cylinders with a clear intent today. We really got everybody involved. When I say everybody, I'm not just talking about the players on the court, I'm including our bench, support personnel and our crowd. It was awesome to see the crowd here, and everybody getting behind us today. The crowd was also great on Friday. It's always good to finish the season with a win."

(On the Senior Day victory)
"You always want that for your seniors, you want that for your players, to be able to carry and cherish that going forward. That's big. Caitlin stepped up and did a great job for us this weekend."

Tigers Tidbits

Andrea O'Connor posted seven total blocks, her second-best outing of the season for that statistical category. She had nine blocks versus Connecticut earlier this season.
Sabrina Bianco recorded her 14^thdouble-double of the season and the 20^thof her career with 35 assists and 10 digs Sunday.
Sabrina Bianco completed the regular season with 1,136 assists.
Sunday's match (17 digs) was the 40^thdouble-figures digs match of Gehler's career and her 22^ndof the season. Gehler has posted double-digit digs in 20 of the Tigers' last 21 matches.
Kaitlyn Gehler entered Sunday's match with 431 digs for the season. After Sunday, she has 448 digs, which are the eighth-most for a season in program history.
Hannah Flowers passed the 1,000-kills milestone Friday, and after her 12 kills Sunday, she has 1,013 for her career. She is the 25^thTiger to reach 1,000 kills for a career. Flowers also is the seventh Tiger to reach the 1,000-kills milestone in only three seasons.

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	Tulane Leaders
Kills	Hannah Flowers, 12 Meredith Wallace, 12	Lexie Douglas, 10
Assists	Sabrina Bianco, 35	Jenna Ibieta, 10
Digs	Kaitlyn Gehler, 17	Kaylie McHugh, 18
Aces	Anna Hayes, 3	Kaylie McHugh, 2
Blocks	Andrea O'Connor, 7	Kayla Dinkins, 6

First Set

Memphis took an early 5-2 lead and never trailed in the set.
Andrea O'Connor, Sabrina Bianco and Hannah Flowers each had kills in the opening run.
The Tigers added to their lead with a 5-4 run for an 11-6 advantage.
Service aces from Anna Hayes and Kinkaid Padgett aided the spurt.
Tulane roared back to tie the set at 13-all, but never got the go-ahead score.
The Tigers answered with a 7-1 spurt to take a 20-14 advantage.
Kills from Flowers (2) and Sabria Cooper (2) ignited the run.
Memphis closed the set with aces from Hayes and Padgett for the 25-17 win.

Second Set

The set had 10 ties and five lead changes.
Tulane took the early advantage at 6-3, but Memphis used a 5-0 run for an 8-6 lead.
The Tigers got kills from three different players and an ace from Hayes.
After Memphis pushed out to a 10-7 lead, the Green Wave went on a 7-3 run for a 14-13 advantage.
The score went back-and-forth the next several points, and the set was tied at 21-all heading down the stretch.
Tulane took a 22-21 lead on a Memphis service error.
The Tigers answered with the next two points – one on an O'Connor kill – for a 23-22 lead.
After the Green Wave tied it up at 23-all, Memphis wrapped up the set on kills from O'Connor and Caitlin Schultz for the 25-23 win.

Third Set

The Tigers grabbed a 3-2 lead early and pushed it out to five at 11-6 after a Cooper kill and a Tulane attack error.
Memphis increased its lead to 13-7 when Tulane made its run.
The Green Wave went on a 7-3 spurt to close to within two at 16-14.
The Tigers withstood the Green Wave rally and pushed back out to a four-point advantage at 20-16.
Kills from Kaitlyn Gehler and Wallace gave Memphis some breathing room.
Tulane battled back and sliced the Memphis lead to one at 23-22.
A trade-off of kills by Tulane and Memphis put the Tigers on the doorstep of the set and match at 24-23.
Flowers ended the set and match with her 12^thkill of the afternoon.