Memphis to Close Season with Trips to Tulsa and Wichita State

Wednesday, November 24

Tulsa, Okla.

5 P.M.

University of Memphis

Tulsa

Memphis to Close Season with Trips to Tulsa and Wichita State

Nov 23, 2021 | Women's Volleyball

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After concluding their home campaign this past weekend, the Memphis Tigers (12-18, 5-13) will hit the road for their final two American Athletic Conference matches, with a Wednesday tilt against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (14-13, 9-9) and Friday matinee against the Wichita State Shockers (18-9, 12-6). Both games will be revenge opportunities for the Tigers, who dropped matches to both the Golden Hurricane and Shockers at home in early October. Both matches will be available on ESPN+.

Tulsa enters the final stretch of play in the middle of the conference standings. The Golden Hurricane had a brief two-match win streak snapped last time out in a five-set loss at Cincinnati and are just 4-7 on their home surface. Tulsa sits in the bottom half of the American in nearly every statistical category. The Golden Hurricane are seventh in team hitting percentage, eighth in opponent hitting percentage, and either eighth or ninth in kills, blocks, assists, and service aces. Tulsa does lead the league in assists per set, with both Roosa Rautio and Avery Kalsu in the top 10 in the AAC in assists per set. Kayley Cassaday is third in the conference with 3.91 kills per set, while Marta Pecalli is second in the conference in digs per set (4.53).

The Tigers and Golden Hurricane have met 33 times since 1983 and Tulsa holds a 20-13 edge in the all-time series. Tulsa has won six straight meetings, as the Tigers haven't been victorious over the Golden Hurricane since Nov. 19, 2017, a four-set win in Tulsa. In the meeting between the schools earlier this season, a four-set Golden Hurricane win, the Tigers took the opening set before Tulsa rallied for the next three. Memphis got double-digit kill performances by Tabytha Toelke (12), Alexis Lewis (12), and Elizabeth Orf (10), while Sabrina Bianco recorded a double-double with 36 assists and 17 digs. For Tulsa, Ayso Dalogullari had a match-high 15 kills, while Cassaday added 13.

Memphis will close out the season at Wichita State, as the Shockers enter the final week of play in a three-way tie for third place in the AAC. Wichita State has won four of its past five matches, with a five-set loss at Cincinnati as the only defeat. The Shockers are 7-4 at home this season and have won three straight on their home court. Wichita State is fifth in the AAC in hitting percentage and third in opponents hitting percentage. The Shockers are third in the conference behind Tulsa and Memphis in digs per set. Natalie Foster (.322) is seventh in the AAC in hitting percentage, Brylee Kelly is fifth in the conference in kills per set (3.57), while Kayce Litzau (10.05) is second in the American in assists per set.

The history between the Tigers and Shockers is brief, with only nine prior meetings between the programs dating back to 1988, with all but one of the meetings coming since 2017. Wichita State's four-set win in Memphis back in October snapped Memphis' three-match winning streak in the series, with all three matches on the Shockers' home court. In the most recent meeting, the Tigers got 15 kills from Miaya Smith 14 from Lewis, and a double-double from Bianco. Kelly and Foster each had a match-high 16 kills for Wichita State.

NOTABLES

The Tigers are second in the AAC with 16.23 digs per set, paced by sophomore Bailey Houlihan, who is third in the conference with 4.53 digs per set
Memphis is fifth in the American with 2.02 blocks per set, led by Elizabeth Orf's 0.95 blocks per set, the seventh best mark in the AAC.
Sabrina Bianco sits fourth in the conference in assists per set (9.94), while senior Miaya Smith is among the top 16 in the AAC in both hitting percentage and kills per set

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