Nov. 10, 2006

Box Score

Memphis 3, UCF 0
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ORLANDO, Fla. -

Memphis (24-7; 10-5 C-USA)  30  30  32
UCF (5-22; 1-14 C-USA)      21  25  30

Sophomore setter Laura Côté posted a double-double of 37 assists and 10 digs, while Memphis got a match-high 17 kills from Sarah Bury and 12 kills from Ashley Liford to earn a hard-fought sweep of UCF to open its final Conference USA regular season weekend. Senior Melissa Nance downed a pair of kills in the contest to become the 19th Memphis volleyball player to reach the 1,000-kill milestone.

Memphis used a 6-1 run to take a 9-6 lead and never trailed again. The Tigers weathered a four-point rally that cut the lead to 16-15. With a one-point advantage, Memphis scored on nine of the next 11 rallies to take a comfortable 27-19 cushion. The Tigers offense got six kills from Bury and five from Liford in the opening set. Bury hit .429 for the match. Memphis slammed 18 kills and hit .429 with just three errors. The defense was solid, making 5.0 blocks, including a pair of solos from Melissa Nance.

The Tigers found themselves trailing 5-1 early in the second game. Memphis chipped away at the UCF lead until taking its first lead of the game on three consecutive UCF errors. After the Golden Knight won the sideout point to knot the frame at 18, Bury kick-started a six-point push to give the Tigers control of the game 24-18.

UCF gave Memphis all it wanted in the third and final game as the two teams battled through 10 ties before UCF put up a four-point rally to pull ahead 17-15. The squads then see-sawed through 10 more ties before clinching the match with a solo block by Shelby Burton and a kill by Liford. Memphis looked to have the game in hand with a 28-26 lead, but UCF responded with two points to tie the game. The point advantage changed hands six times over the final half of the third set.

The Tigers hit .339 for the match and outblocked UCF 10.0-6.0. Burton led all players with six blocks. Nance had three. Christen Clayton posted 10 digs for the Tiger defense.

The Golden Knights, who dropped their 15th-straight match, had three players reach double figures in kills, led by Stephanie Serna's 12. Erin Campbell led all players with 15 digs.

Memphis will now wrap up the regular season with a 1 p.m. matchup at Southern Miss on Sunday.