Memphis - Belmont Boxscore in PDF Format
Box Score
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -
Belmont (1-1) 30 21 26 30 8
Memphis (1-0) 24 30 30 20 15
The University of Memphis volleyball squad got its season underway with a hard-fought five-set win over Belmont in the Arkansas Invitational Friday evening at Barnhill Arena. Nancy Nellans downed 16 kills, but more notably had 16 digs to become the 17th Tiger to reach the 1,000-kills, 1,000 digs milestone. Memphis will now face North Texas on Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by a match with the homestanding Lady Razorbacks at 7 p.m.
Memphis clinched the match with a strong fifth set in which they hit .700 behind three kills from Nellans. Belmont jumped out to a 6-3 lead, forcing the Tigers to take a timeout. From then on it was all Memphis, as a pair of service aces from Melissa Nance tied the final frame at 6-6 and gave the Tigers the momentum. The U of M then outscored the Bruins 9-2 in the remained of the match for the win.
Belmont extended the match to the maximum with a 30-20 over the Tigers in the fourth. BU's defense was the key in the game as they rejected seven Tiger attempts en route to holding Memphis to a match-low -.053 attack percentage.
The Tigers, who hit just .181 for the match, got off to a slow start in the first set, falling behind 8-4 early. The Tigers battled back to tie the frame on four occasions, but Belmont went on a 10-4 run to finish the game. Ashley Liford hammered five kills in the opening game, but the Bruins countered with four blocks.
A more relaxed Memphis club came out in the second frame. Shelby Burton fueled a strong defensive effort with four block assists. Memphis posted five total blocks and held Belmont to a .024 attack percentage. The U of M led early, but BU made a 7-3 push to knot the contest at 13-13. A trio of kills by Nellans paced an 11-3 Memphis run that gave the Tigers a 27-19 cushion. Nellans put down five kills on six attempts after just one kill in the first game.
Memphis raced out to a 6-1 advantage in the third frame and never lost control of the set. However, the Bruins battled to keep it close with a 13-4 run that cut a 20-12 Tiger lead to a 25-25 tie. Setter Hristina Slancheva came big in the final five points of the game, downing a kill to break the tie. She then served up an ace to seal the victory and put Memphis up 2-1. Slancheva finished the contest with five kills and 47 assists.
Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Liford was the only other Tiger to reach double figures in kills with 11. Shelby Burton and Colette Ramirez slammed seven kills each. The duo also had a solid night defensively with seven and six blocks, respectively. Junior libero Christen Clayton added 18 digs for Memphis.
