Nov. 6, 2009
Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. -
Memphis 3, East Carolina 1 
Memphis (7-22; 3-11 C-USA) 20 25 25 26
East Carolina (9-17; 2-12 C-USA) 25 19 16 24
Altrese Hawkins led all players with 21 kills and a robust .581 attack percentage, while libero Becky Shaffer picked up a match-best 22 digs to lead Memphis past East Carolina, 3-1, in C-USA action Friday night. The win was the second-straight for the Tigers, who improve to 7-22 overall and 3-11 in league play. ECU falls to 9-17, 2-12 in C-USA.
The match, that was televised on CBS College Sports, will be aired on tape-delay on Tues., Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. Memphis improved to 2-2 in TV matches. The match was the first-ever televised match for ECU.
The Tigers hit .299 in the contest and also got match-high outings from Christine Bach. Bach finished the night with 51 assist and eight digs. Sophomore middle blockers Carolyn Baker and Casey Sines combined for 17 with Baker downing 11 and hitting .435. Sines hit .400. Marija Jovanovic finished with 12 kills and moved into a tie for 18th on Memphis' all-time freshman kills list with 154 kills. The Tigers hit .387 and .379 in sets two and three, respectively.
A strong comeback effort helped the Tigers post their third league win of the year. ECU held a 15-14 lead midway through, but then scored on four of five serves to take a 19-15 lead. Trailing 23-20 and staring at a fifth-and-deciding set, Memphis turned up the intensity with a kill from Baker. That kill gave way to a service ace by Lauren Thompson and the Memphis defense then forced ECU into a pair of attacking errors to go ahead 24-23. Thompson, who also picked up 11 digs, aced the Pirates twice in the match. Hawkins, who eclipsed the 20-kill plateau for the third time this year, finished the contest off with consecutive kills. Hawkins' 21 kills moved her into fifth-place on Memphis' all-time freshman kills list with 307. She is just the sixth Tiger freshman to reach 300 kills in a season.
Memphis got off to a slow start in the opening set, falling behind 4-0 and then 7-1 before being forced into an early timeout. That timeout proved to be effective as the Tigers regrouped to close the deficit to three points after a block and kill by Baker. Memphis continued to chip away at the ECU lead and trailed 13-11 after the Pirates committed an attacking error. However that was as close the Tigers could come. ECU scored on five of the next six serves to take a commanding 20-13 advantage. Memphis got a kill by Thompson, stuff blocks from Bach and Baker, followed by terminations from Hawkins and Baker to trim the Pirates' cushion to three points. ECU used a timeout to stop the Memphis run and held on for the 25-20 victory.
A more assertive Tiger bunch opened the second set by scoring three of the first four points. But ECU battled back to square the set at 7-all and then again at 10-all. Hawkins broke the tie with a kill and sent Memphis on a 6-1 run for an insurmountable 16-11 advantage. The Pirates closed the Tiger's lead to three points on a pair of occasions, but the two strikes from Hawkins and another by Jovanovic gave the U of M a 25-19 win, sending the two clubs into the locker rooms tied at 1-1.
Memphis again jumped on top quickly in the third. A Pirate attacking error and kills from Sines and Hawkins made it 3-0 and the Tigers never trailed. ECU cut the Memphis lead to 8-7, but the Tigers responded with a kill by Thompson, an ace by Jovanovic and another kill by Thompson to surge ahead 11-7. A pair of kills by Baker fueled a five-point push for the Tigers as they opened the lead to eight points.
The Tigers will look to make it three-straight wins when they take on Marshall on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. CST.
