Oct. 12, 2007
Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. -
Memphis 3, ECU 2
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Memphis (16-7; 5-2 C-USA) 21 30 20 30 15
East Carolina (12-10; 3-4 C-USA) 30 24 30 28 11
Junior outside hitter Sarah Bury slammed six of her team-high 22 kills in the final set to lead Memphis to a gutsy 3-2 come-from-behind win over East Carolina Friday evening. The win extends the Tigers win streak to four matches and marks the first time in two years that Memphis has defeated ECU on the road.
Bury got solid support from several teammates on both sides of the net. Senior Ashley Liford posted a double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs. Shelby Burton had a strong outing, crushing 17 kills and adding five blocks. Freshman Kelsey Labrum put together her best offensive performance in C-USA play with 11 kills. Setter Laura Côté ran the offense with 65 assists. Backrow defender Christine Bach made a match-high 23 digs. Rebekah Strickland came on and provided energy in a reserve role with three kills and four blocks.
Bury took over the contest in the final frame after a kill by Liford trimmed an early Pirate lead to one point at 7-6. The junior then powered a 4-0 run with three straight kills to give Memphis a 9-7 lead, and force an ECU timeout. The Pirates came out of the timeout to score a point to make it 9-8. Bury again went to work, teaming up with Rebekah Strickland for a block and then pounding another kill to put the Tigers up by three. She downed two more kills to give Memphis a 14-10 lead. The Tiger defense came up big in the finale, holding ECU to .115 hitting, while the offense hit .364 to seal the win.
Memphis forced a deciding game with a resilient performance in the fourth frame. Down 2-1, the Tigers found themselves trailing 16-11 midway through the fourth period before Strickland fueled a game-changing, five-point run. Strickland ignited the push with a kill and then assisted on three consecutive blocks to pull Memphis to within one point at 17-16. Burton struck with a kill to give the Tigers its first lead of the game, 20-19, but ECU quickly responded by scoring the next three points. Behind 25-22 late in the set, Memphis used a 3-0 run to tie the game, and then got two unassisted kills from Burton to help lift the Tigers to a 29-26 lead. The Pirates threatened by scoring on the next two serves, but Burton ended it with a kill.
Six ECU aces in the third sent Memphis down quickly, 30-20. The Pirates jumped on the Tigers in a hurry with a 13-6 lead just less than halfway through. The UofM deficit ballooned to as much as 24-12. Memphis hit just .194 in the set to fall behind 2-1.
Memphis fell behind early on in game two before Burton came alive. The senior made a block and slammed kills on two consecutive serves to give Memphis a 13-12 advantage. A service aces by Côté capped a 5-1 push by the Tigers as they increased their lead to 17-13. ECU closed the gap to 21-20 when Burton struck again. This time with a solo block and an assisted rejection to extend the lead to 24-20. A pair of errors by the ECU offense gave Memphis a 28-22 cushion, and Labrum wrapped up the game with a kill to tie the game at 1-1.
Memphis got out of the gates quickly in game one, scoring the first three points and then leading 13-8 after a kill by Labrum. The Tiger saw their lead evaporate rapidly as ECU came back by scoring seven of the next eight points to take the lead 15-14. A kill by Liford regained the lead for the Tigers at 18-17. East Carolina put the game away, however, with a strong 8-0 push on the strength of four aces. Memphis was unable to recover in a 30-21 loss.
The Tigers were able to withstand 11 service aces by the Pirates and a 30-kill performance by ECU standout outside hitter Kelly Wernert. Mignon Dubenion added 12 kills. Trish Monroe led the Pirates with 19 digs.
Memphis returns to action on Sunday with a 1 p.m. EST matchup against Marshall.
