Oct. 13, 2009

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -

Memphis 3, UT Martin 2

UT Martin (7-12)    23  14  25  25  14
Memphis (5-17)      25  25  23  21  16

Christine Bach, Lauren Thompson and Altrese Hawkins all put together career performances to help Memphis hold off a UT Martin comeback for a 3-2 victory Tuesday night in non-conference action at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.

Bach and Thompson recorded double-doubles for the Tigers, who improve to 5-17 overall. Bach added 12 digs to a career-high 64 assists, while Thompson nailed down a personal-best 19 kills to go with 14 digs. The senior hit a career-best .562 and committed just one error on 32 swings. Hawkins led all players with a career-high 25 kills. She hit .429 in the contest.

After taking each of the first two sets, Memphis found itself in a battle after squandering sets three and four. Three kills each by Hawkins and Thompson helped Memphis take what seemed to be a commanding 11-7 lead in the final frame, However, UT Martin would not go down easily as it fought back to score on six of the next seven serves for a 13-12 lead. One of 13 kills by freshman Maja Jovanovic evened the slate at 13-all, but the Skyhawks converted on the next serve to game the match-point advantage. But Memphis denied UT Martin the win as Jovanovic struck again to keep the score tied. An attack error by the Martin offense returned the lead to the Tigers and Jovanovic served up a service ace to seal the victory. Memphis hit .706 on 12 kills and no errors in the final set.

Memphis connected for 16 kills in the first and held UT Martin to a -.042 attack percentage in the second to take a comfortable 2-0 lead into the intermission. Despite the deficit, UT Martin came out and grabbed the momentum in the third and fourth sets to force the deciding game.

Carolyn Baker assisted the strong offensive outings of Hawkins and Thompson with 10 kills. She also made four blocks.

Becky Shaffer picked up 14 digs and Rachel Theard added 11 for the Memphis defense.

Memphis will now prepare for a pair of C-USA road tilts this weekend. The Tigers will travel to Tulsa, Okla., to take on the Golden Hurricane at 7 p.m. on Fri., Oct. 16, before heading to Dallas for a showdown with the SMU Mustangs on Sat., Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.