Aug. 23, 2007

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For the University of Memphis volleyball team, the summer is over and the 2007 season is here. The Tigers will open the 2007 slate tomorrow evening against former Conference USA foe and 26th-ranked Louisville Cardinals in the Louisville Invitational. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. at Cardinal Arena. Memphis will play a doubleheader on Saturday as they will face Tennessee Tech at 11 a.m., followed by a meeting versus Coastal Carolina at 5 p.m.

This season marks the 12th for Head Coach Carrie Yerty, who needs just three wins to surpass former Tiger leader Diane Hale and become the all-time winningest coach in Memphis volleyball history. Hale garnered 212 wins in a nine-year stint at Memphis. Yerty, who has amassed 100 wins over the last four seasons, has posted 210 career coaching victories on the Tiger sideline.

The Tigers
Picked to finish fourth in the C-USA preseason poll, Memphis returns eight letterwinners from last year's squad that finished 27-8 and advanced to the C-USA Championship title match. Of those eight letterwinners, four are returning starters. That core group of talented players includes 2006 AVCA All-American honorable mention performers Shelby Burton and Laura Côté. Burton led the league in service aces and blocks last year, while leading the Tigers offense with 513 kills and a .413 attack percentage. Côté led C-USA in assists per game and, along with Burton was named to the C-USA First Team and AVCA All-Midwest Region squads. Joining those two are senior outside hitter Ashley Liford and junior outside Sarah Bury. Liford reached the 1,000-kill club last year and comes into her final season ranked 14th all-time at Memphis with 1,072 kills. Bury had a break-out season last year, slamming down 446 kills after recording just 22 as a freshman.

Memphis will look to young and untested talent to support its four mainstays. Sophomores Rebekah Strickland, Rachel Theard and Lauren Thompson will be expected to make sizeable contributions. Three redshirt freshmen--Christine Bach, Katlin Inglish and Emily Underwood will see their first action in collegiate competition this weekend. Bach is expected to start at the libero or defensive specialist position, while Inglish and Underwood will vie for playing time.

Scouting Louisville
A former member of Conference USA, Louisville received votes in the preseason AVCA Top-25 poll. The Cardinals have won a conference regular season title of tournament championship every season since 1990--the most recent being its 2006 BIG EAST Tournament title. The UofL returns nine letterwinners and four starters from its 2006 team that went 25-7 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Louisville is led by sophomore outside hitter Tatyana Kolesnikova, the 2006 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year. Kolesnikova is the 2007 BIG EAST co-Preseason Player of the Year, and setter Samantha Dabbs is an All-BIG EAST Preseason team member.

Louisville leads the all-time series against Memphis 24-10. The two schools have not met since the Cardinals became a member of the BIG EAST. In the last meeting between the two institutions, Louisville swept Memphis in the 2004 C-USA Tournament.

Scouting Tennessee Tech
Tennessee Tech struggled to a 12-17 finish last year, but should be much-improved with the return of eight letterwinners and six starters. Memphis is 11-9 all-time against TTU. The two teams have not met since the 2003 season when the Tigers blanked the Golden Eagles 3-0.

Scouting Coastal Carolina
Coastal Carolina went 10-23 a year ago. They too bring back eight key contributors--three of which started last year. A young squad, Head Coach Kristen Bauer's Chanticleers' roster showcases six true freshmen.

Memphis has never played CCU in volleyball.

Memphis is 19-17 all-time in season openers. Since Carrie Yerty took the helm of the program, the Tigers have been successful on Opening Day. Memphis has won four consecutive season openers and is 9-2 in 11 years under Yerty. The Tiger's last season-opening loss came in 2002, when they lost to Georgia State 3-1.