Sept. 28, 2011
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -The University of Memphis volleyball team will look to use the momentum from back-to-back C-USA home wins over ECU and Marshall as the Tigers hit the road this weekend for games against Southern Miss and Tulane. Memphis will take on the Golden Eagles Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. before traveling to New Orleans, La. for a matchup with the Green Wave on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m.
Altrese Hawkins and Marija Jovanovic led the Tigers in their first week of C-USA play, as the duo notched 35 and 32 kills, respectively. Jovanovic was also second on the team with 31 digs in three matches. Hajnalka Molnar chipped in 100 assists in the three matches, including a week-high 37 in a 3-0 win over Marshall.
Scouting Southern Miss
The Golden Eagles enter the weekend with a 6-8 overall record, including 0-2 in C-USA play. Southern Miss dropped back-to-back five-set road match-ups last weekend with Houston (25-22, 21-25, 11-25, 25-18, 13-15) and Rice (25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 18-25, 8-15). Halie Ecker leads the Southern Miss attack with 160 kills (3.08 k/s), while Lisa Knecht has anchored the defense with 251 digs (4.74 d/s).
Scouting Tulane
Tulane brings a 5-8 record into this weekend's match-up, having dropped back-to-back four-set decision to Rice (22-25. 19-25, 26-23, 22-25) and Houston (25-20, 16-25, 24-26, 14-25) on the road. Cori Martone leads the Green Wave attack with 114 kills (2.78 k/s), while Nikki Osuna has anchored the defense with 221 digs (4.60 d/s). Both Lilly Wolfe (200) and Mel Madelbaum (249) have over 200 assists.
WEEKLY NOTES:
Sept. 19-25 Week in Review
Memphis opened Conference USA play with a 2-1 record in three home matches. The Tigers dropped a match to UAB, who is currently undefeated in C-USA play, before picking up straight-set wins over ECU and Marshall. Altrese Hawkins led the Tiger attack with 35 kills, while Vesna Jelic led the defense with 32 digs. Hajnalka Molnar chipped in 100 assists in the three matches, and Marija Jovanovic downed 32 kills and picked up 31 digs.
Acing the Competition
Redshirt-junior Vesna Jelic has found her serve in the first week of conference play, registering nine aces in three matches. She had a career-high six aces in a 3-0 sweep of East Carolina. Jelic is sixth in C-USA with 0.35 sa/s, while Memphis also leads C-USA with 104 aces (1.89 sa/s). Hajnalka Molnar (0.38 sa/s), Marija Jovanovic (0.37 sa/s) and Maja Kostic (0.34 sa/s) all rank in the top 10 in aces.
Killing Machines
The Tigers are currently second in C-USA in total kills in the 2011 season. Memphis has downed 788 kills (14.33 k/s) so far this year, which is 12 fewer than Tulsa. Memphis is second behind UCF in kills per set with 14.33 k/s.
Conference Best
Hajnalka Molnar is currently second in the conference and third in the nation in assists per set (12.25 a/s) and has the most total assists (674). Altrese Hawkins ranks third in kills per set with 226 (4.11 k/s), and Marija Jovanovic is right behind her in fourth with 190 kills (3.65 k/s).
Grand Achievement
Altrese Hawkins became the 21st person in Memphis Volleyball history to down 1,000 kills in her career. She picked up her 1000th in the first set against Howard and is now 16th all-time in the Memphis record book with 1,034 career kills.
