Volleyball Wins Tiger Brawl Title

Saturday, September 7

Memphis, Tenn.

1 pm CT

University of Memphis

5-0

UT Martin

3-0

UT Martin

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Sep 07, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Crescenzo named tournament's MOP; Cooper, Migliore named all-tournament.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis freshman Gigi Crescenzo posted her first college double-double performance in helping the Tigers to a 3-1 win over in-state foe UT Martin. The victory gave Memphis the Tiger Brawl championship, its second tournament title of 2019 season.

Memphis won the Tiger Brawl crown by scores of 25-17, 25-27, 25-18 and 25-22 over UT Martin. The Tigers posted a 3-0 record in the two-day tournament. Memphis defeated Gardner-Webb and Arkansas-Pine Bluff Friday.

For her effort, Crescenzo was named the Tiger Brawl's Most Outstanding Player. The freshman had career-highs for both kills (11) and digs (13) in the win over UT Martin Saturday. Over the weekend (three matches), Crescenzo recorded 20 kills and 23 digs to go with a .327 hitting percentage.

Joining Crescenzo on the Tiger Brawl All-Tournament Team from Memphis were fellow freshmen Sabria Cooper and Mia Migliore.

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
(On winning the Tiger Brawl)
"It's a great feeling winning our home tournament. What we talked with our team about was breaking our season down into mini-seasons. Preseason is one, pre-conference tournaments is another. And within the pre-conference tournaments, take each one as a small season each weekend. Our goal is to stayed focused on that weekend and win that tournament. We've been successful so far, but it gets tougher now."

(On the individual performances today)
"Gigi hasn't hit a lot for us, but she came in and played front row for us. We thought her ball control and attacking ability could be a good match-up against UT Martin. She was fantastic. Sabrina was good in delivering the ball to the right people at the right time, and that's how we get better. I was really impressed with our ball control."

(On the six-match win streak to start the season)
"It's a nice streak, but we're back at zero heading into next weekend's tournament."

Up Next
Memphis goes back on the road next weekend when the Tigers travel to Carbondale, Ill., to play in the Saluki Invitational. Memphis faces Alabama State and Southern Illinois Friday, Sept. 13 and IUPUI Saturday, Sept. 14.

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	UT Martin Leaders
Kills	Hannah Flowers, 15	Hannah Phillips, 13
Assists	Sabrina Bianco, 37	Kenzie Hinshaw, 31
Digs	Mia Migliore, 19	Jamie Rys, 23
Aces	Hannah Flowers, 7	Four players, 1
Blocks	Sabria Cooper, 8	Justine Walker, 12

Tigers Tidbits

The Tigers' 6-0 start is their best since 2006 (7-0).
Memphis has won two tournament titles (EIU Panther Invitational, Tiger Brawl) this season. It is the first time the Tigers have won two crowns in the same season since 2016.
The Tigers opened the season with back-to-back tournament titles. It is the first time Memphis began a campaign with consecutive tournament crowns since 2006. It is only third time since 2000 that the Tigers started a season with titles in their first two tournaments (2001, 2006, 2019).
The Tigers set an American Athletic Conference match record with 14 services aces (four sets) vs. UT Martin Saturday. The previous four-set record was 13 aces held by Connecticut, Tulane and Tulsa.
Of the team's 14 aces Saturday, junior Hannah Flowers had a career-high seven. Flowers' seven aces are tied for the third-most for a match in program history. Her seven aces are the most by a Tiger since Nancy Nellans had eight vs. Charleston Southern in 2002.
Hannah Flowers' seven aces tied the American Athletic Conference match record (four sets). The record was previously set by Connecticut's Kayla Williams in a 2017 match vs. Memphis.
Freshman Sabria Cooper tied her season-high in kills (8) and recorded her season-best in blocks (8). She also had eight kills in a win over South Dakota State Aug. 30.
Mia Migliore tied her season-high in digs with 19 vs. UT Martin. She also had 19 digs in the Aug. 30 win over Drake. It was her fifth double-digit digs performance of the season.
Sabrina Bianco had 37 assists vs. UT Martin for her fourth 30-plus assists match of the season.

First Set

Memphis grabbed an early 4-2 lead and never trailed in the opening set.
The Tigers extended their lead to 10-5. Gigi Crescenzo had a kill and an ace in the run.
UT Martin pulled to within three at 11-8, but got no closer.
Memphis put together an 11-3 run to take a 22-11 advantage and put the set out of reach.
Four Tigers downed kills in the spurt.
The Tigers closed the set on consecutive kills from Meredith Wallace and Hannah Flowers for the 25-17 victory.

Second Set

The set was close at the start with nine ties in the first 22 points. The last tie was 11-all.
Memphis went on a mini-run to grab a three-point advantage at 14-11. Crescenzo had a kill in the spurt.
The Tigers maintained their narrow lead until 22-18, but UT Martin made a final push.
The Skyhawks used a 6-2 run to tie the set at 24-all.
A Flowers' kill put Memphis back in the lead at 25-24.
UT Martin, though, closed the set with the final three points for the 27-25 win.

Third Set

UT Martin jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the Tigers answered with a 9-1 run for a 9-4 lead.
In the run, Memphis scored five-straight points off Sabrina Bianco's service game.
The Skyhawks then answered with an 8-3 spurt to tie the score at 12-all.
Memphis responded with six-straight points off Sabria Cooper for an 18-12 lead. She had one kill, and the Tigers scored the other five points off her serves.
Memphis maintained its lead on the way to a 25-18 win.

Fourth Set

Memphis took the early lead at 10-4. The Tigers scored five of their 10 points off Flowers' service game that included two aces.
UT Martin roared back and knotted the set at 14-all.
The Skyhawks continued their run and pushed ahead 18-16.
The Tigers answered with a 4-0 spurt to take a 20-18 advantage. Memphis never trailed again.
Mia Migliore served three of the Tigers' four points in set-changing run.
Flowers closed the match with her serve, pushing the Tigers to match point at 24-20.
A UT Martin error gave Memphis the 25-22 win.