Sept. 1, 2007

Box Score

CHARLESTON, Ill. -

Memphis 3, Indiana State 0
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Memphis (3-3)         32  30  30
Indiana State (1-3)   30  16  22

Memphis head coach Carrie Yerty made history this afternoon when a Tiger sweep of Indiana State propelled her into the top spot on the UofM's all-time coaching victories list Saturday in the Eastern Illinois Pepsi Challenge. Memphis then got 19 kills from Shelby Burton to cruise to a sweep of Iona and finish the weekend with a 3-1 record.

Memphis defeated Indiana State in all statistical categories and had three players reach double-figures in kills. Burton led the way with 13 kills. Freshman Kelsey Labrum and senior Ashley Liford chipped in with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Setter Laura Côté set a match-best 42 assists.

Game one proved to be the tightest contest of the match as Memphis fell behind big early. A service ace by Indiana State gave the Sycamores a 17-9 lead. That is when the Tigers began its efforts to claw its way back into the set. A kill by Liford and Sarah Chamber's first career service ace fueled a four-point rally that closed the gap to 17-13. The Tigers continued to battle and put together a 4-0 run to pull even at 22-all. After a Sycamore timeout, Memphis forced an attack error that gave the Tigers their first lead since early in the game. The two squads see-sawed back-and-forth until a Lauren Thompson kill made it 31-30. The UofM then benefited from an ISU ball handling error to claim the win, 32-30.

Game two was a different story, as the Tiger defense limited Indiana State to -.036 hitting, while putting up a .312 average of its own. After scoring the first six points of the period, Memphis pushed rallies of seven points and four points to take hold of a 17-point lead at 26-9.

Memphis defense held ISU under .200 hitting again in the final frame. However, a slow start forced the Tigers to come up with another come-from-behind win. Trailing 15-11 midway through, the Tigers scored on seven of the next eight rallies, including a five-point surge that gave them an 18-16 lead. A Liford kill ignited another five-point run. This one, however, gave them a sizeable 27-21 lead late in the game. Emily Underwood put down a kill and Burton ended the match with consecutive scores for the 30-22 final

For the match, Memphis hit .259 to Indiana State's .138 average. The Sycamores out blocked the Tigers 11-3, but behind a match-high 12 digs by Liford and Becky Shaffer, Memphis maintained a plus-15 advantage in digs. Côté had 10 digs and was five kills shy of a triple-double. She and Liford both recorded double-doubles.

Match Notes
• Sophomore Lauren Thompson recorded a career-high with eight kills, nine digs and a .412 hitting average to help Memphis to its first two-match win streak of the year.
• Sophomore Sarah Chambers served up her first career service to help Memphis ignite a first-game comeback.
• Kelsey Labrum ripped down 11 kills--marking the third consecutive match that the freshman has reached double figures in kills.
• Sophomore Gresh Gorman made her Tiger volleyball debut in game two of the Indiana State match. Gorman came on as a back row defender for Shelby Burton.

Memphis 3, Iona 0
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Iona College (0-6)   25  19  17
Memphis (4-3)        30  30  30 

Memphis rode the strength of 19 kills from Burton and got strong offensive performances throughout the lineup to hit .350 and race to a sweep of Iona in its final match of the Eastern Illinois Pepsi Challenge.

Iona and Memphis battled through 12 ties in the opening game until Labrum buried a kill to put the Tigers on top 13-12. That kill ignited a four-point push that made it 16-12 in favor of the Tigers. The UofM maintained a two-point cushion before Thompson pounded a kill and Burton followed with two more kills to put the game out of reach, 24-19. The lead was expanded to six points before Iona used a 5-0 run to cut it down to a single point, at 26-25. Memphis, who hammered down 22 kills and hit .318 in the set, answered with a kill by Thompson to hold off the Gaels rally. That kill started a game-ending 4-0 surge. Thompson powered home a personal-best nine kills for the UofM offense,

In game two, Underwood broke an 8-8 tie with one of her three kills, and scored on nine of the next 13 serves to climb ahead by five-points after a service ace by Burton. Burton added five aces, five digs and three blocks to her stellar offensive output. Memphis capped the game with a 7-1 run to take a commanding two-game lead. A power-packed offensive performance resulted in a .421 hitting clip in the second period and the defense held Iona to .188 hitting.

Memphis wrapped up its weekend by holding the Gaels to a .026 average in the final frame. Consecutive kills by Katlin Inglish put the Tigers up by eight scores at 14-6 and an attacking error by the Gaels increased the Memphis advantage to 22-12. Two kills each by Rebekah Strickland and Inglish rounded out the weekend with a 30-17 triumph.

Côté handed out 43 assists and added eight digs and five kills. Memphis outdueled Iona 58-35 in kills. Shaffer made 11 digs to lead the Memphis defense, that out dug IC 51-41.

Memphis does not play again until Friday's home opener against Nicholls State in the Memphis Invitational. First serve is set for 11:30 a.m.

Match Notes
• Middle blocker Emily Underwood and outside hitter Lauren Thompson made their first career starts in Memphis' final match of the weekend versus Iona.
• Redshirt freshman Katlin Inglish pounded her first collegiate kill in game three versus Iona. Inglish finished the night with five kills (.444) and four digs.
• Shelby Burton downed a match-high 19 kills, including hammering seven kills in the first game and nine in game two. The senior hit .586 and added five aces in the match.
• For the second straight match, sophomore Lauren Thompson set a new personal best in the kills department. The Tiger's outside hitter downed a career-high nine kills and tied a career mark with nine digs.
• Memphis completed the Eastern Illinois Pepsi Challenge with a second-place finish of 3-1.