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Volleyball Swept by New Orleans, Drops Five-Set Heartbreaker to UALR
Sept. 19, 2009
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - UALR (6-5) 24 25 25 21 16 Memphis (2-12) 26 21 19 25 14
New Orleans (7-5) 25 25 25 Memphis (2-11) 18 21 19
Memphis was swept by New Orleans in the early match, but got a match and career-high 24 kills from redshirt freshman Altrese Hawkins in a gutsy 3-2 loss to UALR in the nightcap of the Tiger Invitational Saturday night at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Hawkins was named to the Tiger Invitational All-Tournament team. Memphis falls to 2-12 on the year. In the nightcap, Hawkins' was play was unmatched. She torched the UALR defense for 24 kills and hit .353. Carolyn Baker also got in on the act, hitting .316 with 10 kills and tying a program record with 11 total blocks--three solos and eight assisted. Outside hitters Lauren Thompson and Katlin Inglish combined for 24 kills. Thompson completed a double-double performance with 14 digs. Bach also posted a double-double with 39 assists and 18 digs. Shaffer led all players with 21 digs and Theard chipped in with 14 digs. "I'm proud of the way we fought after Stephanie went down in the first set," said head coach April Jauregui. "We took good steps forward tonight and played well enough to give ourselves a chance to win. Congratulations to Altrese. She played a phenomenal match tonight and really played well all weekend". After battling from a 2-1 deficit to force a deciding game, a kill by Katlin Inglish gave Memphis an 8-7 lead midway through the final frame. Both teams struggled to gain control of the set that saw 12 ties and five lead changes. A block by UALR made it 9-10 in favor of the Trojans, but Memphis responded with two points, including an ace by Christine Bach to give the Tigers an 11-10 advantage. The U of M held the lead until Anita Bucur struck with a kill and followed with and ace to put UALR on top 13-12. Hawkins' 24th kill of the night made it 14-all, but UALR closed the match out with consecutive kills for the 16-14 final. Memphis hit .273 and held UALR to .120 en route to extending the match to the maximum. Hawkins got the offense going with a pair of kills to open the stanza, and blocks by baker and Inglish made it 3-0. The Trojans fought to tie the set at four, five, six and seven, before a kill by Thompson sent Memphis on a 5-0 run that gave the Tigers a 12-7 cushion. They extended the leads to six points, 19-13, after a kill by Hawkins, but UALR quickly came back with four-straight to cut the Memphis lead to 19-17. Inglish put an end to the run with a kill and the Tigers were able to hold the Trojans off for a 25-21 win. UALR used a potent offensive attack to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Trojans hit .371 with 17 kills. Meanwhile, Memphis could not keep up with the pace, with a .206 average on 12 kills. The 25-19 margin of victory was the largest for either club all night. The Tigers held the Trojans to .100 hitting in the second, but could not haul in the win as UALR pulled out a 25-21 win to tie the match. After playing to 14 ties--the last being 21-21--the Trojans scored four-straight to win the set. Memphis put forth its most gutsy performance of the year in the opening set. The opener set the tone for the remainder of the match with the teams playing through 17 ties and 11 lead changes. A kill by UALR's Becky Mann gave the Trojans a 24-23 lead. However, on the play Tiger setter Stephanie Pauls collided with middle blocker Casey Sines as they both dove to keep a ball in play in the middle of the court. Pauls suffered a concussion and did not return to the match. Trailing by one with Christine Bach already designated as the libero, Jauregui was forced to move Sines to the setter role. The decision pay off immediately as Sines ended a long rally by connecting with Lauren Thompson for the kill to tie the game at 24-24. Sines assisted on a kill by Rebekah Strickland and Memphis benefited from a UALR hitting error to claim a 26-24 set-one victory. Hawkins led Memphis with 11 kills in the loss to New Orleans. Bach dished out 16 assists and made 11 digs to lead the Tigers. Sines made six total blocks. The Tigers will continue the search for its first home win next weekend, when it hosts Rice and Houston in a pair of Conference USA battles. Rice comes to town for a 7 p.m. match on Fri., Sept. 25. The Tigers will host Houston on Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. Tiger Invitational All-Tournament Team
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Memphis Tigers
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