Aug. 27, 2010

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -

Jacksonville State 3, Memphis 1

Jacksonville State (1-0)     25  24  25  25
Memphis (0-1)                19  26  18  16

Altrese Hawkins led all players with 18 kills and Marija Jovanovic added 11 kills, but Memphis was overpowered by Jacksonville State, 3-1, in Friday evening's season-opener at the Belmont Invitational.

"I have to give much credit to Jacksonville State," said third-year head coach April Jauregui. "They are a very strong team and will contend to win their conference this year. That's a good test early. I think our team will learn from this and come out ready (to play) tomorrow."

Jacksonville State hit .242 in the contest, while holding Memphis to .117. JSU held a 57-45 advantage in kills.

The opening set saw both club's battle for control. Trailing 12-10, Memphis got a pair of kills from outside hitter Vesna Jelic to fuel a 4-0 push for a 14-12 lead. However, that cushion would be short-lived as Jacksonville State came back to score on the next four serves to take a two-point advantage. The Gamecocks never let go of the lead, finishing off the set outscoring the Tigers 12-4. Memphis got five kills from Hawkins and four from Jelic in the opening frame.

Memphis came out firing in the second. Jovanovic got going and sandwiched a pair of kills around two JSU attacking errors for a 4-0 lead. The sophomore led Memphis with five kills in the set. A service ace by Jovanovic extended the Tiger's lead to eight, 16-8. With a 24-19 lead in hand, Memphis struggled to find the set-clinching point. JSU reeled off six straight scores to knot the set at 24 to force the Tigers into a timeout. Memphis came out of the timeout poised to put the set away and they did just that. Jovanovic connected for a kill and freshman Katie Meyer sealed the win with a solo block.

An 8-0 run by Jacksonville State midway through the third set put the Tigers behind an 11-point deficit at 20-9. Trailing 21-10, Memphis used a pair of kills by Katlin Inglish to cut the Gamecock's lead to 23-16, but the big lead proved to be too much to overcome as JSU took a 2-1 lead with a 25-18 set-three victory.

The Tigers fell behind early in the fourth, but used consecutive strikes by Inglish and Altrese Hawkins to trim the JSU lead to 11-9. Inglish ended the night with six kills. That would be as close as Memphis could keep the set as Jacksonville State scored on three-straight rallies to go ahead 19-13. The Gamecocks finished the set strong, with scores on five of the final six serves for the 25-16 final.

Hajnalka Molnar led Memphis with 23 assists, while Holly Fong added 14. Defensively, Christine Bach picked up a team-high 16 digs. Becky Shaffer finished the night with 11.

The Tigers will look to break through the win column tomorrow when they wrap up play in the 2010 Belmont Invitational. Memphis will take on host Belmont, at 12:30 p.m., followed by a 3:30 p.m. matchup with Miami (Ohio).