Sept. 26, 2008

Box Score

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. -

Marshall 3, Memphis 1

Memphis (10-5; 1-1 C-USA)     10  25  21  13
Marshall (8-4; 1-1 C-USA)     25  21  25  25

Three Marshall hitters landed double-figures in kills and the Herd dominated play for the majority of the match in a 3-1 decision in C-USA action on Friday evening. The loss evens the Tigers' league record to 1-1, while dropping them to 10-5 overall.

Marshall controlled play throughout the majority of the competition and posted a 53-35 advantage in the kills department and a 48-31 lead in assists. Memphis committed 13 service errors and was out-dug 54-32. Blocking was the Tigers' lone bright spot in the tilt as they controlled play at the net 9-5. Freshman middle blocker Carolyn Baker led all players with five blocks, while the nation's top blocker, Emily Underwood, and Rebekah Strickland each had four rejections.

"We didn't come out ready to play and that's disappointing," said first-year head coach April Jauregui. "We were never able to run our system and get in the flow of the match. We learned a hard lesson tonight. I know our team will be ready to play on Sunday."

Marshall jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the opener and never looked back in a set-one rout of the Tigers. The Tiger deficit ballooned to 13 points, at 20-7, after a six-point push by the Herd. Memphis was unable to stop Marshall's offense as the Herd connected on several first-ball attacks en route to hitting a blistering .407 to cruise to a 25-10 win in the opener. Marshall middle hitter Jalicia Ross--the league's leader in attack percentage was perfect on the swings and Elizabeth Herman downed seven kills to lead the MU offensive attack. Marshall's All-C-USA setter Elizabeth Fleming set 11 assists. Memphis' offense could not get warmed up and was held to a frigid -.062 clip in the first.

The Tigers reversed the momentum in the second to even the slate before the break. Katlin Inglish, who led Memphis with 10 digs, broke an early 1-1 tie with a kill that ignited a 6-0 run for Memphis for a 7-1 lead. Just as Marshall did in the opener, Memphis used its early advantage to tie the contest. The Tigers' six-point cushion was quickly cut to just one, at 15-14, but a Herd hitting error helped maintained the lead. Christine Bach served up one the her two aces on the night to push the U of M lead to 20-17, but Marshall came back and got an ace of its own to make it a one-point contest at 22-21. But three-straight MU errors gave Memphis the 25-21 win. The Tigers hit just .150 with seven kills in the set, but came through with the sideout score at a 77% clip. They benefitted from Marshall's four service errors, 12 attacking errors and -.067 hitting percentage. Memphis helped its cause with five blocks, three of which came from Baker.

In a see-saw tilt, Marshall regained the lead with a 25-21 decision in the third set. In a set that saw both teams battle to nearly identical offensive production, it was the Tigers miscues that proved to be the difference. Memphis held a 17-16 advantage in kills and outhit the Herd .326-.324, but the U of M committed four service errors and made one reception error. Memphis' 16-13 lead quickly turned into a 19-16 discrepancy after Marshall made a strong 6-0 rally. A kill by Baker stopped the surge, but it was too late as the Tiger could close the gap no closer that two points.

The fourth and final set was all Marshall. The Tigers hit .080, while the Herd hit .346 to close out the match. Memphis led 6-5 before Marshall went on a 9-0 run to seal the match with a 25-13 final set.

Memphis was led by Laura Côté's 30 assists. Bach led the defense with 12 digs. Marshall was paced offensively by Elizabeth Fleming's match-high 42 assists and Elizabeth Herman's 15 kills. Emily Sullivan and Ross downed 13 and 11 kills, respectively. There was little answer for the duo who hit .476 and .389.

The Tigers will look to rebound on Sun., Sept. 28, when they take on East Carolina at Noon EST.