Memphis finishes road swing against division-leading Houston

Friday, March 12

Houston, Texas

6:00 PM

University of Memphis

Houston

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Memphis finishes road swing against division-leading Houston

Mar 11, 2021 | Women's Volleyball

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Tigers wrap up their back-to-back road AAC swing with matches against the Houston Cougars. Houston enters the weekend with a 6-0 record in conference play and sits atop the AAC West Division. The Tigers, fresh off of a road sweep at Wichita State, need at least a split to keep Houston from clinching a postseason spot and keep pace for the second postseason position in the division.

Dating back to 2013, the Tigers and Cougars have met twice each year except for 2017, when they met once. Over that stretch, the Tigers hold a 7-6 advantage, though the Cougars have won each of the last three meetings between the two schools. Memphis' last win at Houston was nearly 4.5 years ago, Nov. 13, 2016. The Tigers have lost in four, five, and four sets respectively in the last three meetings.

Memphis got a big push in the AAC standings with its sweep last weekend against the Shockers, as the Tigers vaulted into postseason contention. The five-set win last Thursday earned Memphis its first conference win of the season, while a four-set win on Friday placed the Tigers just a game out of second place in the division. Memphis got consecutive double-doubles from Gigi Crescenzo, Sam Drewry, and Sabrina Bianco. Bianco earned a spot on the AAC Honor Roll for her performance against the Shockers, which included consecutive 50+ assist and 16+ dig performances.

The Cougars enter the weekend off of a road sweep at Tulsa and have a chance to clinch a spot in the AAC Championship. A sweep of the Tigers would secure that, though even if Memphis pulls off another road sweep, Houston would have a chance to lock in a postseason appearance in their final weekend of the regular season with two matches at Wichita State.

In Houston's sweep of the Golden Hurricane, the Cougars also swept the AAC Player of the Week awards. Freshman setter Annie Cooke took home the offensive honors with a .269 hitting percentage and nearly 14 assists per set, second most in the league. On the defensive side, junior libero Torie Frederick took home the honors. Frederick led the conference with 52 digs and 6.5 digs per set in the sweep over Tulsa.

Tigers Tidbits

Memphis leads the American in digs per set (19.37), good for seventh in the AAC, the top ranked AAC team across any team statistic
This series matches the two teams atop the AAC leaderboard in assists per set, with Houston leading the league at 13.32 and Memphis second at 13.03
Houston and Memphis also sit in the same order in kills per set, with the Cougars at 14.55 and Tigers at 13.81
Miaya Smith and Elizabeth Orf both remain among the top 20 in the AAC in hitting percentage
Sabrina Bianco leads the conference in assists per set at 11.65, good for 16^th nationally, while Bailey Houlihan sits second in the conference in digs at 5.51 per set, good for 35^th nationally