Aug. 31, 2011
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -The University of Memphis Volleyball team will hit the road for the first time this season when it travels to San Francisco, Calif. for the USF Asics/Powerade Challenge hosted by the University of San Francisco.
After winning four consecutive games to claim the tournament crown last weekend at the Memphis Invitational, the Tigers will look to continue their strong play this weekend with a series of games against Providence, Columbia, and USF.
The Tigers will take on Providence at 5:30 p.m. (CT) on Friday, Sept. 2 and then play Columbia at 2:30 p.m. (CT) on Saturday Sept. 3 before finishing the tournament with a match against USF at 9 p.m. (CT) on Saturday night.
The junior duo of Altrese Hawkins and Hajnalka Molnar led the Tigers to four straight victories last weekend at the Memphis Invitational. Hawkins was named Conference USA's Offensive Player of the Week after earning MVP honors in the Memphis Invitational with a tournament-best 64 kills.
Molnar was also recognized by C-USA, as the redshirt-junior was tabbed as the Setter of the Week after recording 199 assists throughout the tournament, including a career-high 61 against Georgia State in the championship-clinching match.
Tournament schedule:
Sept. 2 Memphis vs. Providence 3:30 p.m. (Live Blog) (Live Stats)
Sept. 2 USF vs. Columbia 6:00 p.m.
Sept. 3 USF vs. Providence 10:30 a.m.
Sept. 3 Columbia vs. Memphis 12:30 p.m. (Live Blog) (Live Stats)
Sept. 3 Providence vs. Columbia 5:00 p.m.
Sept. 3 USF vs. Memphis 7:00 p.m (Live Blog) (Live Stats)
Weekly Notes:
Players of the Week
After a successful first weekend, Altrese Hawkins and Hajnalka Molnar were eached honored by Conference USA as the Offensive Player of the Week and Setter of the Week, respectively.
• Hawkins was named the Memphis Invitational Most Valuable Player after leading the Tigers to four-straight victories. She averaged 4.27 kills per set, including hitting .630 against SEMO en route to leading the Tigers to their 800th program win. For the weekend, she was credited with a .383 hitting efficiency (64K, 13E, 133TA). Hawkins collects her third career Offensive Player of the Week honor.
• Molnar averaged a league-best 13.27 assists per set and posted 35 digs in four matches. The junior played every point in the Tigers' four-straight victories in the Memphis Invitational, leading them to their 800th program win over Southeast Missouri on Friday. This is Molnar's first career Setter of the Week honor.
Week in Review (Aug. 22-28)
Memphis opened the 2011 campaign in midseason form, winning four straight matches over Alabama A&M, SEMO, UALR and Georgia State en route to winning the Memphis Invitational tournament title. Marjia Jovanovic and Aleksandra Petronijevic were named to the all-tournament team, and Altrese Hawkins was dubbed the event's MVP. Petronijevic recorded a career-high 29 digs in the championship-clinching match. The 29 digs in a single match ranks ninth on Memphis' all time single-match record list.
Grand Approach
With two seasons under her belt, Altrese Hawkins is only 118 kills shy of becoming the 21st player in Memphis Volleyball history to record more than 1,000 kills.
Freshman Specialist
Redshirt Freshman Libero Aleksandra Petronijevic recorded 29 digs against Georgia State in the final match of the Memphis Invitational. The 29 digs in a single match ties Christine Bach and Christen Clayton's mark for ninth all-time in the Memphis record books. Petronijevic was named to the all-tournament team for her performance.
From Serbia with Love
The 2011 Tigers, much like the 2010 team, will have a very European feel. The roster features five players from Serbia (Jovana Barisic, Vesna Jelic, Marija Jovanovic, Maja Kostic, Aleksandra Petronijevic) and one from Hungary (Hajnalka Molnar). Assistant coach Marko Majstorovic is also from Serbia. Five of the six players had a major impact in Memphis' first tournament weekend.
• Jelic recorded 40 digs and 32 kills during the Memphis Invitational, including a double-double of 11 kills and 13 digs in the championship match against Georgia State.
• Jovanovic was named a member of the Memphis Invitational all-tournament team after downing 55 (3.67 k/s) kills and coming up with 31 digs. She held a .300 hitting percentage and posted a double-double of 15 kills and 16 digs in the championship match against Georgia State.
• Petronijevic posted 75 total digs during the Memphis Invitational, including a career-high 29 in the championship match against Georgia State. The 29 digs in a single match ties Christine Bach and Christen Clayton for ninth all-time. Petronijevic was also named to the all-tournament team.
• Molnar was named C-USA's Setter of the Week after a solid performance throughout the Memphis Invitational. The redshirt junior recorded 199 total assists, including 61 in the championship match against Georgia State to lead the Tigers to four-straight victories.
• Kostic posted nine kills and 35 digs while seeing time in 13 sets throughout the Memphis Invitational. She also recorded eight service aces.
New City, New Teams
This weekend's trip to San Francisco will be the first ever trip to the Bay Area for Tiger Volleyball and will mark the start of three new series with Providence, Columbia and San Francisco. In 40 years of competition, Memphis has not faced any of the three teams in the tournament this weekend.
