Volleyball Preview: EIU Panther Invitational

Friday, August 30

Charleston, Ill.

12 pm CT

University of Memphis

Drake

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Aug 29, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Tigers open season in Charleston, Ill., for the second time in three years.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Year 2 of the Sean Burdette era begins this weekend for the University of Memphis volleyball program. The Tigers open their 2019 campaign at the EIU Panther Invitational presented by Holiday Inn Express Aug. 30-31.

Eastern Illinois is the two-day tournament's host. The Panthers also welcome Drake and South Dakota State to the event, which is being held at the Lantz Arena on the EIU campus in Charleston, Ill.

Memphis Schedule/EIU Panther Invitational presented by Holiday Inn Express

Date/Day	Match	Time (CT)
Aug. 30/Friday	Memphis vs. Drake	12 pm
	Memphis vs. South Dakota State	3 pm
Aug. 25/Saturday	Memphis vs. Eastern Illinois	11 am

Memphis/Opponents Breakdown

	Memphis	Drake	Eastern Illinois	South Dakota State
2018 Record	11-19	*21-15	10-21	6-23
Series	-------	First meeting in 2019	EIU leads 4-3	First meeting in 2019
# Returnees	7	10	11	8
Ret. Kills Leader	Hannah Flowers, 373	Elle Tubbs, 195	Laurel Bailey, 311	Makenzie Hennen, 340
Ret. Assists Leader	Molly Murrihy, 1,020	Paige Aspinwall, 716	Bailey Chandler, 591	Maddie Fay, 837
Ret. Digs Leader	Kaitlyn Gehler, 384	Kylee Macke, 577	Laurel Bailey, 325	Ellie Thein, 330
Ret. Blocks Leader	Hannah Flowers, 75	Elle Tubbs, 103	Maggie Runge, 112	Sydney Andrews, 65

*played in the 2018 postseason (NIVC)

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
"There is a path, and there is tremendous progress being made. It's been a great time in the gym, seeing what the players put in over the summer and having that pay off during the preseason."

(On going into his second season as head coach)
"We've got some good anchors on our team such as Hannah Flowers, who is a returning all-conference player. We're now putting pieces around our returning players. We have nine new faces, and that's a large number. The incoming class is a good balance of transfers and new freshmen."

(On the team's depth)
"It's fantastic in terms of playing six-on-six in practice. We have depth at every position right now. Depth leads to competition, and the competition by position makes everyone better. That's what we're seeing in practice with our players pushing each other. We've also been able to take a look at a lot of different rotations, a lot of combinations of players together. It's really good to have that competition in the gym."

(On the EIU Invitational)
"We have a challenging schedule this weekend. We start with Drake, which won 21 matches last year and returns two good setters. Then, we play South Dakota State right after in back-to-back matches. On Saturday morning, we play host Eastern Illinois. It's a quick turnaround for us with three matches in a short amount of time. But, with what Coach (Darin) Lovat has done with us this summer with our weight training and conditioning has prepared us for these stretches."

(On what he's looking to gain from the tournament)
"The biggest thing I want to see is unity and how we play through adversity. Whether we are up or down a point, how are we going react to different situations that we can't replicate in practice with all the new faces we have. It's going to be great to see how we handle those situations."

Tigers Tidbits

For the fourth time in the last six seasons, the Tigers start a campaign with a road tournament. In 2016 and 2018, the Tigers opened the season at home, but from 2013-15 and in 2017, Memphis started a campaign outside the Bluff City. Memphis opened its 2017 season at the EIU Panther Invitational.
In that last visit to the EIU Panther Invitational in 2017, Memphis faced a Green Bay squad that was coached at the time by Sean Burdette. Green Bay won the match 3-1. Hannah Flowers is the only current member of the team that played in the match, and she downed eight kills.
Memphis not only added nine newcomers, but also a new assistant in Taylor Unroe. The first-year associate coach joined Sean Burdette's staff after spending the 2018 campaign at Mississippi State. Prior to moving to the coaching ranks in 2015, Unroe was a four-year standout at Florida and was named the 2013 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Libero of the Year.
Three Tigers – Gigi Crescenzo, Anna Hayes and Molly Murrihy – are making visits back to their home state this weekend. Crescenzo (St. Charles) and Murrihy (Palos Heights) are from the Chicago area, which is just over three hours north of Charleston. Hayes (Hartsburg) is a two-hour drive northwest of the Eastern Illinois campus.
Molly Murrihy returns for a second season after she handed out 1,020 assists as a freshman in 2018. She had the most assists by a freshman in a season sinceLaura Côté had 1,451 helpers in 2005.
If she continues on her pace, Hannah Flowers will close in on 1,000 kills for a career in 2019. She enters the campaign with 630 kills.