Memphis Drops First Two Matches of Toledo Invitational

Friday, September 1

Toledo, Ohio

9:30 a.m.

University of Memphis

2-2,0-0AAC

Virginia Tech

4-0,0-0ACC

Virginia Tech

Memphis

Memphis Drops First Two Matches of Toledo Invitational

Sep 01, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

TOLEDO, Ohio – The Tigers drop their first two matches of the Toledo Invitational to Virginia Tech, 0-3, and a hard fought five-set match to Youngstown State, 2-3. Memphis fought back from being down two sets to none and forced a fifth before falling 15-13 in the final set. The Tigers struggled from behind the line, with 19 service errors between the two matches.

Virginia Tech 3, Memphis 0

Memphis opened the match with Tabytha Toelke scoring the first point off a cross court kill.
The Hokies gain momentum early after taking the point on a long rally, resulting with a Virginia Tech kill. They continued to push forward, going on a 8-0 run, capitalizing off of Memphis mistakes.
The Tigers started to cut back on the lead after back-to-back Hokie errors midway through the first set.
Virginia Tech held strong to its lead and closed out the first set with a 25-12 score.
The Hokies showed a strong front at the net with back-to-back blocks in the beginning of set two. They added a 5-1 run forcing a timeout halfway through the second set.
Errors at the net my Memphis and big blocks by the Hokies took them to a 25-12 win of set two.
Memphis and Virginia Tech came out battling in the third set, exchanging points back and forth with the Hokies taking a slight lead.
The Tigers looked to cut the lead with back-to-back kills from Hannah Jones and Reilly Briggs halfway through the third set before service errors stopped their run.
Memphis started a run late in the third set, however were unable to over the deficit, Virginia Tech taking the final set 25-20.

Notables

Briggs led the team with nine kills, followed by Toelke with seven.
Abigail Schlueter finished the match with 18 digs, Loren Robertson and Toelke tallying eight a piece.

Youngstown State 3, Memphis 2

Youngstown State got off to a quick start, going on a 7-1 run before forcing a timeout by Memphis.
Memphis began chipping away at the lead with a 3-0 run midway through the first set, points coming off kills from Clara Bednarek and Toelke and an ace from Rylee Busse.
Memphis took the lead after going on a 5-1 run, making the score 17-15. Bednarek putting up a kill and a block on the back end of the run.
The Penguins took set one 26-24 after hard fought back and forth rallies to finish out the set.
Memphis and YSU opened set two dueling back and forth exchanging points. With the Penguins taking the early lead and forcing the Tigers to take a timeout.
Memphis looked to climb out of the deficit, going on a 3-0 run halfway through the set, with a kill from Briggs and a block by Bednarek and Briggs.
The Tigers tied it up late in the second set, forcing the Penguins into a timeout. YSU would finish off the set on a 5-point run, taking it 25-20.
Memphis took the lead early in the third set, with YSU hanging close behind as the teams exchanged points.
The Tigers held the lead through the set with the Penguins keeping in close to the end. Memphis won a decisive challenge late in the third set giving them the momentum needed to force a fourth set.
Memphis opened the set up once again with the lead, Mackenzie Leach added an ace to start a five-point run.
The Tigers reach 20 points first in the fourth set, as they went on a 4-1 run that included kills from Autumn Flynn, Briggs and Toelke. Memphis finished off the fourth set 25-18, pushing a fifth and final set.
YSU started strong taking an early lead and forcing a Memphis timeout halfway through the fifth set.
Memphis brought it back within one point as they went on a 3-1 run, forcing a YSU timeout. YSU would go on to take the set 15-13, winning the match 3-2.

Notables

Four Tigers recorded double digit kills: Briggs (19), Bednarek (15), Toelke (14) and Madison Rice-Locket (12).
Flynn led the team with a .300 hitting percentage on 20 attempts.
Bednarek notched six blocks, Flynn coming in with five and Briggs, Ricec-Locket and Robertson tallying three apiece.
Four Tigers tallied double digit digs: Schlueter led with a career high 24 digs, followed by Toelke (17), Robertson (15) and Leach (13).

Up Next: The Tigers will finish up the Toledo Invitational against the host school on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 1:30 p.m.

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.