Oct. 17, 2008

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -

Memphis 3, SMU 1

SMU (11-11; 3-5 C-USA)        25 22 14 18
Memphis (13-9; 4-4 C-USA)     22 25 25 25

University of Memphis middle hitters Carolyn Baker and Emily Underwood combined to hit .551 with 28 kills, and setter Laura Côté handed out a season-high 55 assists as the Tigers raced to a 3-1 win over SMU in Conference USA action on Friday evening at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Memphis improves to 13-9 overall and evens its league mark at 4-4. SMU falls to 11-11, 3-5 in C-USA play.

"It was nice to come out tonight and pick up a win at home after having a tough road trip last weekend," said Memphis head coach April Jauregui. "Our middles did a phenomenal job. We worked on our offense alot this week. That's all that we worked on so to have them come out and have the games that they had. It was nice as a coach to see them put into action what we had been working on (in practice) for the past three days. I thought Laura (Côté) set a really nice game. We were keeping their blockers guessing. Then at the end of the game we did a really good job of putting balls down. Then we did a good job following the game plan. We execute by taking them out of things we wanted to."

Baker was a hot option for Côté, downing a career-best 18 kills and hitting a blistering .667. She did not commit an error on 27 swings. Underwood was equally as impressive in the contest. The 6-3 middle hit .409, scored 10 kills and made just one error on 22 attacks. The hitting duo got sizeable help from right side hitter Rebekah Strickland, who slammed home 16 kills and hit .312 on the night. Memphis hit .312 in the contest--its highest offensive output since hitting .421 in the season-opener against Alabama A&M.

The Tigers defense got a match-high 22 digs from libero Christine Bach. Becky Shaffer added 10 digs. Strickland made six total blocks on the night, while Underwood posted five block assists. Baker finished with four blocks.

Memphis will take on Tulsa in its next tilt. The contest will be televised on CBS-College Sports on Sun., Oct. 19. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.