Nov. 11, 2007

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -

Marshall 3, Memphis 0

Marshall (22-8; 15-1 C-USA)  31  30  30
Memphis (22-11; 11-5 C-USA)  29  19  26

Memphis squandered a seven-point lead late in game one and Marshall used that momentum to breeze to a sweep of the Tigers in the regular season finale Sunday afternoon at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The loss ends Memphis' hopes of a top-four finish in the C-USA regular season standings and drops the Tigers to fifth. The league's tournament bracket will be released later today.

Memphis hit .355 in game one, but committed late errors that ultimately cost it the game. The Tigers raced out to an 8-2 lead on a kill by Sarah Bury. Memphis took a 24-17 lead after kills y Bury and Laura Côté on consecutive plays. At 27-20 it looked as if the Tigers would take a 1-0 lead in the match. But Marshall had other plans when Kristin Marcum stepped to the service line. Marcum's serve highlighted a six-point run that pull the Herd with one at 27-26. A kill by Stephanie Cahill evened the slate at 29-all--the first tie since 1-1. Assisted blocks by Cahill and Uche Ndubisi gave Marshall a 30-29 lead and the Herd finished the game with a block by Ndubisi and Kelly-Anne Billingy. Ndubisi led all players with seven blocks, while Cahill had four.

The Tigers struggled in game two and hit just .033. Meanwhile, the Marshall offense got rolling to the tune of a .476 attack percentage. Another block by Ndubisi and Billingy gave the Thundering Herd an 18-7 lead--a deficit Memphis was unable to recover from in an 11-point loss.

It was more of the same from the Marshall offense in the finale as it hit .469 with 18 kills. A block by MU setter Elizabeth Fleming gave the Herd a 16-12 cushion and forced a Memphis timeout. That timeout broke the momentum and Memphis then scored four of the next five points. Assisted blocks by Rebekah Strickland and Lauren Thompson made it 17-16 in favor of Marshall. Memphis pulled even at 20-20 on a Marshall service error. A 7-1 run by the Thundering Herd put the Tigers behind for good.

Senior Ashley Liford led the Tigers with 11 kills and a .450 average, while Bury added 10 kills and hit .300.

Cahill led the way for Marshall with 19 kills. Billingy posted 11. Fleming dished out 45 assists for the regular season champs.

Memphis will now look ahead to the C-USA Championships, where it will be back in action on Thurs., Nov. 15 against the UCF Knights. First serve is set for 7 p.m. EST.