Oct. 31, 2008

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -

Memphis 3, Marshall 0

Marshall (10-12; 3-9 C-USA)   11  24  17
Memphis (16-10; 7-5 C-USA)    25  26  25

Sophomore middle blocker Emily Underwood downed a match-high 14 kills and hit .476 to lead Memphis's offense, while its defense held Marshall to .106 hitting en route to its third straight win via a sweep of the Thundering Herd in C-USA action on Friday night. The victory ensures that Memphis (16-10; 7-5 C-USA) will finish .500 or better for the eighth consecutive season.

Memphis hit .341 in the contest--its strongest offensive production in league play this year. Outside Katlin Inglish joined Underwood's potent night and hit .412 with eight kills. Setter Laura Côté added 31 assists, four kills, eight digs and four block assists in a strong all-around outing.

Defensively, The Tigers were led by Underwood's six total blocks. Libero Christine Bach led all players with nine digs.

After taking the opener, Memphis found itself in a battle in the second set. Rebekah Strickland opened the stanza off with a kill, but Marshall came back to score seven of the next 10 serves to take a 7-4 advantage. A hitting error by the Herd, followed by kills from Katlin Inglish and Underwood evened the set at 8-all. Marshall's Kristin Marcum broke a 12-12 tie with one of her team-high seven kills, and sent the Herd on a 6-2 rally as they pushed ahead 18-14 late in the set. But Memphis would not be denied. Trailing by the four-point margin, the Tigers put up a 6-1 push, that included a pair of terminations from Underwood, to take a 20-19 lead. A kill and an ace by Inglish put Memphis up 23-21, but Marshall used three-straight Memphis errors to climb back into the set and gain a set-point serve at 24-23. Côté tied the frame with a kill and Lauren Thompson followed suit for a 25-24 Tiger cushion. A Marshall offensive error capped the set for a 26-24 Memphis win.

The Tigers ran with the momentum of its 2-0 lead for a game-three triumph. However, it wasn't without an early battle for the Herd. Marshall scored the first three points and held a 9-4 lead after Emily Sullivan put down kills on back-to-back plays. Memphis called a timeout and regrouped and chipped away at the Marshall lead, closing the gap to one point, 11-10. But MU came away with three straight points for a 14-10 set midway through. Strickland then struck for a kill, followed by blocks by Underwood and Inglish, a kill from Inglish and an ace from Lauren Trouy as Memphis then rallied furiously to knot the game at 14-14. An Underwood kill made it 15-15 and Inglish then stepped to the service line for an ace. Ahead 16-15, Underwood and Côté put on a blocking display and teamed up for three blocks in 7-0 Tiger rally. That gave Memphis enough momentum to go on to a 25-17 win and post its first sweep in C-USA action this year.

The Tigers got out the gates quickly in the contest and grabbed an 11-3 lead virtue of runs of six and three points. Marshall never threatened as Memphis did not allow them to score any more than two points in succession. Meanwhile, the Tigers strung together a pair of 4-0 rallies to win convincingly, 25-11. The Tigers hit a blistering .615 in the opener on 17 kills and just one error.

Memphis will now attempt to "Fill the Fieldhouse" on Sunday afternoon when it plays host to East Carolina. First serve is set for 1 p.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Admission is Free.