Volleyball Drops Match At Houston

Sunday, September 29

Houston, Texas

1 pm CT

University of Memphis

11-2

Houston*

7-8

Memphis

Houston

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Sep 29, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Boxscore (UH 3, UM 2)

Cooper with career-high kills; Bianco with career-high assists.

HOUSTON, Texas – University of Memphis' Sabria Cooper downed a career-high in kills and Sabrina Bianco set a career-best in assists Sunday, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers fell to Houston in five sets by a 3-2 score.

The Cougars took the match by scores of 15-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16 and 17-15. Memphis fell to 11-3 overall and 0-2 in The American. Houston improved to 7-8 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

For the second-straight match, Cooper, a freshman, set her career-high in kills with 17 versus the Cougars. Cooper had 13 kills at Tulane Friday night. Bianco, a sophomore, did the same in recording a career-best for a second-consecutive match, but in assists. The transfer from New Mexico handed out a career-high 60 assists, surpassing her previous-best of 54 against the Green Wave Friday.

Up Next
The Tigers return home to the Elma Roane Fieldhouse for their American Athletic Conference home-opening weekend Oct. 4-6. Memphis hosts Wichita State Friday at 7 p.m. (CT) and Tulsa Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT).

Head Coach Sean Burdette comments

"Another match that came down to the wire. We made many great plays in spurts, but we have to find that level and play there all the time. Attacking errors in critical situations cost us strings of points so we need to get in the gym and clean that up. Sabria had a big presence out there this weekend and hit for good numbers. Our backcourt defense has really gotten better and is giving us transition swing opportunities. We want to put some more pressure on our opponents attackers at the net blocking. Sabrina also had a great weekend on both sides of the ball distributing the offense and defending. Our team is playing at a new level against good competition in the AAC. We've lost the last two matches by a combined four points so we are right there fighting for it."

Tigers Tidbits

Sabria Cooper's 17 kills are the most by a freshman this season, edging out Gigi Crescenzo's 14 kills versus Southeast Missouri Sept. 21.
Kinkaid Padgett, a transfer from Georgia State, collected a season-high 13 digs Sunday. The 13 digs were two off her career-high 15 she had last season at Georgia State.
Sabrina Bianco's 60 assists were the most by a Tiger since Veronica Zimmerman passed out 65 helpers versus USF on Nov. 29, 2013.
Sabrina Bianco's 60-assists match was the first of her career. After this weekend, she now has two career 50-plus assists performances (54 versus Tulane Friday).
Sabrina Bianco posted her seventh 40-plus assists match of the season. It was the eighth of her career.
Sunday's double-double performance by Sabrina Bianco was her sixth of the season.
Meredith Wallace had 14 kills and 11 digs for her fifth career double-double (also fifth of the season).
Meredith Wallace sure loves playing on the road. This season, she has 124 kills and a .224 hitting percentage in road matches (8 matches). At home (6 matches), Wallace has 46 kills and a .075 hitting percentage.
Hannah Flowers had her ninth-straight double-digit kills match and her 10^thoverall of the season. It was her 45^thdouble-figures kills match of her career.
Kaitlyn Gehler recorded 27 digs versus Houston. It was her 27^thdouble-figures digs performance of her career. It also was her fourth 20-plus digs match of the season.

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	Houston Leaders
Kills	Sabria Cooper, 17	Megan Duncan, 25
Assists	Sabrina Bianco, 60	Abby Irvine, 35
Digs	Kaitlyn Gehler, 27	Katie Karbo, 26
Aces	Kaitlyn Gehler, 3	Two players, 1
Blocks	Hannah Flowers, 2 Andrea O'Connor, 2	Isabel Theut, 6

First Set

Memphis grabbed the early 3-0 lead and never trailed.
An Andrea O'Connor kill and two Houston errors got the Tigers going.
Houston closed to within three at 8-5, but Memphis went on a 7-0 run for a 15-5 advantage.
Two kills each from O'Connor, Hannah Flowers and Meredith Wallace spurred the run.
Memphis maintained a nearly double-digit lead the rest of the way and took the set 25-15.

Second Set

The Cougars responded in the second set and pushed out to a 10-6 lead.
Memphis then went on an 8-2 spurt for a 14-12 advantage.
Wallace had two kills in the run.
Houston answered with a 9-1 spurt for a 21-15 lead.
The Tigers made one final push with an 8-2 run to tie the set at 23-all. Sabria Cooper downed the kill that tied the set.
Houston scored the final two points off Memphis errors for the 25-23 win.

Third Set

Memphis turned the tables on Houston to open the third set and took a 10-6 lead.
Cooper had four kills and Wallace added two in the set-opening run.
The Tigers remained in front and increased their lead to 17-10 on another Cooper kill.
Houston fought back and cut the Memphis lead to 21-19.
The Tigers added some distance and pulled out to a 23-19 lead after two Houston errors.
Cooper ended the set with two kills for the 25-22 Memphis win.

Fourth Set

The set was tight early and was tied at 12-all after a Cooper kill.
Houston went on a 7-1 run to take a 19-13 lead.
The Cougars continued their run and took the set by a 25-16 count.

Fifth Set

The fifth set was a back-and-forth affair.
Memphis took the first lead at 2-0 on kills from Jada Birkel and Wallace.
Houston answered with a 5-1 run to take a 5-3 advantage.
The Tigers then used a 6-1 spurt for a 9-6 lead. Kills from Birkel, Flowers and Gigi Crescenzo ignited the spurt.
Houston pulled back in front at 12-11.
After Memphis tied the set at 12-all, the Cougars pushed back out to a 14-12 lead and match point.
The Tigers saved two match points, tying the set at 14-all.
A Flowers kill tied the set at 15-all, but Houston netted the next two points for the 17-15 set win and 3-2 match victory.