Volleyball Wins EIU Panther Invitational

Saturday, August 31

Charleston, Ill.

11 am CT

University of Memphis

3-0 (3-0Invite)

Eastern Illinois

0-2 (0-2Invite)

Memphis

Eastern Illinois

Photo by: Sandra King, EIU

Aug 31, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Boxscore (UM 3, EIU 0)Cumulative Stats

Bianco takes MVP honor; Wallace, Flowers named to all-tournament team.

CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Sabrina Bianco-Meredith Wallace duo led the University of Memphis volleyball team to a third-straight win to open 2019 with a 3-0 victory over host Eastern Illinois Saturday in the EIU Panther Invitational presented by Holiday Inn Express. The Tigers won the match by scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-21.

The win gave Memphis the EIU Panther Invitational crown, as the Tigers went 3-0 on the weekend. On Friday, Memphis defeated Drake and South Dakota State by 3-1 scores.

Bianco was named the EIU Panther Invitational MVP, and Wallace and Hannah Flowers picked up all-tournament team honors.

Up Next
Memphis returns to action next weekend when they host the Tiger Brawl, the first of two home tournaments in September. The Tigers welcome Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Gardner-Webb and UT Martin to the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Sept. 6-7. The action starts Friday at 10 a.m. (CT).

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
"We put in a very solid match today. I think our strength and conditioning and the work Coach (Darin) Lovat has put in with our players paid off this weekend. We were able to play at a high level for three matches that occurred in a 24-hour block of time.

"We had contributions from many players today. Kinkaid Padgett's play really stands out to me. She came in a provided great serve reception numbers, digging and energy.

"What we saw this weekend was our ability to spread the ball out to multiple players that can score. Caitlin Schulz came up with big kills and our middles, Sabria (Cooper) and Andrea (O'Connor), were good at the net on both offense and defense. We're excited to get home next weekend and play in front of our fan base."

Tigers Tidbits

The 3-0 record to start a season is the Tigers' first since 2011.
The 3-0 record to start a season on the road is the Tigers' first since 2006.
The road tournament championship is Memphis' first since 2016 when it won UAB's Fight Like Hal Invitational.
Sabrina Bianco posted her first double-double as a Tiger Saturday with 37 assists and 10 digs vs. Eastern Illinois. It was the seventh double-double of her collegiate career (six last year at New Mexico).
Meredith Wallace recorded her third-straight double-digit kills match with 14 scores. She led the Tigers in kills for the third-consecutive match.
Freshman libero Mia Migliore led the squad in digs for a third-straight match with 12. In the three matches this weekend, she collected 48 total digs. Migliore also had four service aces in the win over Eastern Illinois Saturday.
Eight first-year Tigers played in Saturday's match, including four freshmen.