Volleyball Falls In American Opener Friday

Friday, September 27

New Orleans, La.

7 pm CT

University of Memphis

11-2, 0-1American

Tulane*

11-3, 1-0American

Memphis

Tulane

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Sep 27, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Boxscore (TLN 3, UM 2)

Bianco, Wallace with double-double performances.

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The University of Memphis volleyball team spotted host Tulane a 2-0 lead before fighting back to force a fifth and deciding set that the Green Wave won, escaping with a 3-2 victory in the American Athletic Conference opener for both squads Friday. The match was played at Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse on the Tulane campus.

The Green Wave jumped on the Tigers early and took the first two sets by scores of 25-12 and 25-21. Memphis, though, answered with wins in the next two sets by scores of 25-23 and 25-22. Tulane won the fifth set by a 16-14 count.

Memphis fell to 11-2 overall and 0-1 in The American. Tulane improved to 11-3 overall and 1-0 in the league.

Sophomore transfer Sabrina Bianco directed the offense and posted a career-high 54 assists. She also played well defensively, collecting a career-best 21 kills. Sophomore Meredith Wallace tied her career-high with 19 kills and added a career-best 14 digs.

Up Next
The Tigers continue their American Athletic Conference opening weekend road trip to Houston, Texas, Sunday. Memphis faces the Cougars at 1 p.m. (CT). Houston is coming off a five-set victory over SMU Friday night.

Head Coach Sean Burdette comments
"A really good battle tonight after getting down early. We made some critical adjustments and put pressure on with our serve. Jada came in and provided good energy and attacking/blocking at the middle hitter position, and Sabria was big for us and came out swinging and was second in kills. The team played hard for each other and our serving and passing put us in position to win points. Meredith was also big on the left pin with kills and hitting percentage. Sabrina played great defense tonight."

Tigers Tidbits

Sabria Cooper posted a career-high 13 kills Friday. Her previous-best was nine last time out versus Southeast Missouri Sept. 21.
Sabrina Bianco's 54-assists match was the first 50-plus assists performance of her career. Her previous career-high was 47 assists versus South Dakota State Aug. 30.
Sabrina Bianco posted her sixth 40-plus assists match of the season. It was the seventh of her career.
Sabrina Bianco's 21 digs surpassed her previous career-high of 13 against UT Martin Sept. 7.
Friday's double-double performance by Sabrina Bianco was her fifth of the season.
Meredith Wallace had 19 kills and 14 digs for her fourth career double-double (also fourth of the season).
Meredith Wallace sure loves playing on the road. This season, she has 110 kills and a .254 hitting percentage in road matches (7 matches). At home (6 matches), Wallace has 46 kills and a .075 hitting percentage.
Gigi Crescenzo tied her career-high with 15 digs. She also had 15 digs in wins over Alabama State and Southern Illinois.
Hannah Flowers had her eighth-straight double-digit kills match and her ninth overall of the season. It was her 44^thdouble-figures kills match of her career.
Kaitlyn Gehler recorded 22 digs versus Tulane. It was her 26^thdouble-figures digs performance of her career. It also was her third 20-plus digs match of the season.

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	Tulane Leaders
Kills	Meredith Wallace, 19	Lexie Douglas, 18
Assists	Sabrina Bianco, 54	Jenna Ibieta, 25
Digs	Kaitlyn Gehler, 22	Kaylie McHugh, 20
Aces	Kaitlyn Gehler, 3	Lexie Douglas, 2
Blocks	Sabria Cooper, 3	Kayla Dinkins, 7

First Set

Tulane jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never trailed.
The Green Wave built their lead to 14-4.
The closest Memphis got was within eight points on several occasions.
Tulane took the opening set 25-12.

Second Set

The Tigers came out with a little more urgency in the set and took an early 2-0 lead on consecutive kills from Hannah Flowers and Meredith Wallace.
Memphis continued to lead at 4-3, but Tulane put together a 4-0 run to grab a 7-4 lead.
The Green Wave never trailed the remainder of the set.
Tulane built its advantage to as many as eight at 19-11 when the Tigers fought back.
Memphis closed on a 10-5 run to slice the Green Wave lead to 24-21.
Two kills apiece from Jada Birkel, Sabria Cooper and Wallace paced the Memphis spurt.
A Tulane kill ended the set at 25-21.

Third Set

The set went back-and-forth early with three ties, the last at 9-all.
Tulane pushed out to a 12-9 lead, but the Tigers answered with a 4-0 run to take a 13-12 advantage.
Wallace had a hand in all four points with one kill and three other scores coming off her service game.
Memphis extended its lead to 21-16 on consecutive Tulane errors.
A Wallace kill put Memphis on the doorstep of the set at 24-21.
After the Green Wave pulled to within 24-23, a Flowers kill gave Memphis the 25-23 win.

Fourth Set

Memphis took the lead at 3-2 and did not trail until late in the set.
The Tigers built their advantage to 16-10, but a furious Tulane rally pushed the Green Wave to a 20-19 lead.
Birkel came up with two huge kills to give Memphis a 23-21 lead.
Wallace finished off the set with two kills for a 25-22 victory.

Fifth Set

Memphis took an early 3-2 lead, but Tulane quickly pulled out in front and led most of the set.
The Green Wave went on a 7-3 run to take a 9-5 lead.
The Tigers fought back and closed to within one five times late, the last two on Cooper kills at 13-12 and 14-13.
A Tulane error knotted the set at 14-all, but the Green Wave finished the set and match with consecutive kills for the 16-14 win.