Career Day for Toelke Propels Tigers to 3-1 Win Over SMU

Wednesday, November 3

Memphis, Tenn.

1 P.M.

University of Memphis

11-14,4-9AAC

SMU

12-11,8-5AAC

SMU

Memphis

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Career Day for Toelke Propels Tigers to 3-1 Win Over SMU

Nov 03, 2021 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Tigers (11-14, 4-9) avenged yet another early season loss with a 3-1 victory over the SMU Mustangs (12-11, 8-5) Friday at the Larry O. Finch Center. After they were swept on the road by the Mustangs to open American Athletic Conference action, the Tigers answered with a come from behind win on their home court. The match featured a combined 46 ties and 19 lead changes. While neither set saw fewer than eight ties or four lead changes.

Memphis 3, SMU 1
22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 30-28

Set 1

The set featured 16 ties and five lead changes
After Memphis led 4-1, neither side led by more than two points until SMU's ace that closed the set
The Mustangs ended the set with four straight points as part of an extended 7-2 run

Set 2

The Tigers trailed by as many as three (15-12) but responded with a 5-0 run
Memphis didn't lead by more than two until a 6-0 run set up set point at 24-19
A pair of aces from Sabrina Bianco highlighted Memphis' closing 7-1 run
Bianco achieved her double-double through just two sets with 29 assists and 10 digs
Tabytha Toelke has six of her match-best 16 kills in the set

Set 3

Neither side led by more than three until a block by Gigi Crescenzo capped a 3-0 Memphis run and put the Tigers in front 15-11
SMU used a 4-0 run sandwiched around a Memphis timeout to lead 19-17 before the Tigers rallied for three straight points
The Mustangs took a 21-20 lead on a kill by Hannah Jacobs, but Memphis scored five of the next six points, which included the final three, to take the set
Miaya Smith had five of her 15 kills in the set

Set 4

SMU had four set point opportunities to extend the match to a fifth set
The Mustangs opened the set on a 7-2 run while Memphis eventually drew even 14-14 and led 16-14 with a 6-0 run
Smith posted a kill on two of SMU's set point chances, while Crescenzo and an SMU error erased the others
Toelke's 15^th kill of the match gave the Tigers match point, while the freshman followed with another kill that gave Memphis the win

NOTABLES

Sabrina Bianco (53 assists, 16 digs) and Tabytha Toelke (16 kills, 14 digs) each notched their third straight double-double
Bianco now has 11 double-doubles on the year while Toelke has five
Bianco's 53 assists were a season-high while Toelke's 16 kills were a career-high
Miaya Smith, who tallied her most kills while with Memphis last time out, followed up with a 15-kill performance and has 32 total kills in Memphis' past two matches

UP NEXT

Memphis will quickly hit the road and head to Philadelphia for Friday's matchup against Temple at 6 p.m. on ESPN+
The Tigers will spend next weekend on the road with matches Thursday and Saturday at UCF and USF respectively

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tigers Volleyball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.