Nov. 18, 2010
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -
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The Memphis volleyball will return home for its final full C-USA home weekend. The Tigers will host UCF, on Fri., Nov. 19 at 7 p.m., before welcoming UTEP to the Elma Roane Fieldhouse for a 1 p.m. battle on Sun., Nov. 21. Sunday's contest has been designated as Senior Day. Memphis will salute its four seniors--Christine Bach, Katlin Inglish, Becky Shaffer and Emily Underwood.
Tigers Tales
• Memphis dropped a pair of league matches this weekend to fall to 15-13 overall and 6-10 in C-USA. The Tigers, currently eighth in the league standings, were swept at Tulane on Friday night, before falling to Southern Miss, 3-1 on Sunday.
• The Tigers are in the midst of a season-long three-match losing streak.
• Despite the two weekend setbacks, the Tigers remain two wins away from its ninth finish of .500 or better in 10 seasons. With two victories Memphis would finish 17-15. The Tigers have just four matches remaining on the 2010 schedule.
• With 15 wins on the year, Memphis is just three shy of the program's 800th victory.
• Christine Bach continues to chase Memphis' all-time digs mark, set by Christen Clayton in 2006. Bach, who currently ranks second on the list, inched closed with 36 digs in two the two weekend contests. Bach now has 1,716 career assists. She needs just 97 digs over the final four matches to take over the Tigers all-time digs record--just over 24 digs per match. Bach also ranks 10th on Conference USA's all-time digs ledger.
• Altrese Hawkins notched her sixth 20-kill outing versus Southern Miss on Sunday. Hawkins leads the Tigers with 434 kills and has 769 kills for her career. Only Nancy Nellans, who lettered from 2002-05, has landed more kills in her first two seasons, with 849.
• Memphis leads C-USA and ranks 11th in the country, with 190 aces (1.76 sa/s). Five Tigers ranks in the league's top-11 in service aces. Sophomores Vesna Jelic and Hajnalka Molnar rank second and third in the league with 0.38 and 0.32 service aces per set, respectively. Jelic's 40 aces is tops in the league and her per set total ranks 53rd nationally. Maja Kostic (25 aces) and Christine Bach (31 aces) rank sixth and seventh in the league, while Marija Jovanovic rounds out the Tigers serves, ranking 11th with 28 aces.
Last Time Out
Southern Miss 3, Memphis 1
Memphis (15-13, 6-10 C-USA) 11 25 26 20
USM (18-10, 11-6 C-USA) 25 23 28 25
HATTIESBURG, Miss.-Altrese Hawkins led all players with 20 kills, but Memphis could not overcome 17 service errors in a 3-1 loss at Southern Miss, Sunday, afternoon at Reed Green Coliseum. The loss was the third-straight for the Tigers, who fall to 15-13, 6-10 in C-USA action. Meanwhile, Southern Miss improved to 18-10 overall and 11-6 in conference play.
With the exception of the opening set, the match was a closely contested one throughout. Southern Miss routed Memphis, 25-11 in the first, but the Tigers bounced back for a 25-23 victory to even the match at 1-1. With the contest knotted at 1-all, Memphis squandered a sizeable lead in the third to fall 28-26. The Tigers never recovered, dropping the fourth and final set.
In addition to Hawkins' outing, Memphis got solid performances from several players. Marija Jovanovic downed 15 kills and Hajnalka Molnar added a match-best 50 assists. Maja Kostic put together a solid all-around game, with nine kills and 13 digs.
Defensively, Memphis was led by libero Christine Bach's 19 digs, while Vesna Jelic picked up 15. Cassidy Hawkins was strong at the net, making a career-high nine total blocks (three solos, six assisted).
Scouting UCF
• At 13-15 overall and 6-10 in league action, UCF is currently seventh in the C-USA standings.
• The Knights boast one of Conference USA's top attackers in Kristin Fisher. The junior outside hitter ranks third in C-USA and 24th nationally with 4.75 points per set. She is also third in the league and 20th in the country with 4.30 kills per set. Fisher's 439 kills are third among C-USA hitters. Fisher has downed 25 or more kills three times this year.
• Sophomore middle blocker Tory McCutcheon is C-USA's fifth-most efficient hitter, with a team-leading .339 attack percentage.
All-Time Series vs. the Knights
Memphis leads the all-time series 11-8 after being swept at UCF on October 24. The two clubs split the season series in 2008 and 2009, with both teams winning at home, both years. The series dates back to the 1979 season, when UCF handed Memphis a 2-1 defeat. Memphis came away with 2-0 sweeps in 1980 and `81. The Tigers won five-straight matches against the Knights in 2006 and 2007. Since UCF joined C-USA in 2005, the Tigers are 7-4 versus the Knights. Memphis is 4-1 against UCF at home.
Last Time vs. UCF
UCF 3, Memphis 0
Memphis (13-9, 4-6 C-USA) 23 24 22
UCF (12-10, 5-5 C-USA) 25 26 25
ORLANDO-The Memphis volleyball squad came up just short in all three sets en route to falling to UCF 3-0 in a closely-contested C-USA battle, Sunday afternoon at The Venue at UCF. Memphis, 13-9 overall, 4-6 C-USA, splits C-USA weekend action for the second consecutive week with the loss. The Tigers defeated UTEP, 3-1 on Friday evening.
Vesna Jelic claimed a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. The sophomore outside hitter hit .391 on the afternoon. Christine Bach produced match-high numbers for the Tigers. Bach picked up a match-best 26 digs for the Tigers, who held the Knights to .161 hitting for the match. Jovanovic downed 19 kills. Hajnalka Molnar dished out a match-best 35 assists.
Despite the match-high performances, the Tigers made critical mistakes at the service line and finished the afternoon with 11 service errors. That, combined with a .178 hitting percentage and 16 total blocks by the UCF defense proved to be too much to overcome.
The match featured 35 ties and 21 lead changes.
Scouting UTEP
• UTEP is 12-17 overall and just 4-12 in C-USA play. The Miners have lost 10-straight and 12 of the last 14 matches. Their last win came against Marshall on October 9.
• UTEP showcases the league's second-best blocking attack and the nation's 39th strongest. The Miners have made 239 total blocks this year and average 2.44 blocks per set.
• The blocking attack is led by senior middle blocker Kyla Muela. Muela leads the team and ranks third in C-USA with 1.11 blocks per set. She has totaled 60 blocks this year.
• Jeane Horton leads the Miners with 88 total blocks, while Cassandra Burruel is second on the squad with 68. The duo ranks sixth and seventh in C-USA, respectively with 1.04 and 1.00 blocks per set.
• Libero Stephanie Figueroa leads the team and rates seventh among C-USA liberos with 431 digs (4.40 digs/set).
• The UTEP offense is paced by freshman Melissa Toth. Toth lead the team and ranks in the top-10 in Conference USA with 4.01 points per set (8th), 3.52 kills per set (7th), 23 service aces (7th). She leads the team with 296 kills.
• Jacqueline Cason is the clubs most efficient attacker ranking 11th in the conference with a .306 average on 120 kills.
• Setter Paty Jarmoc ranks 17th all-time in C-USA with 4,003 career assists.
All-Time Series vs. the Miners
Memphis leads the series versus UTEP, 6-3 after ousting the Miners, 3-1, in El Paso, Texas on October 22. The win snapped a two-match losing streak to the Miners, who swept the Tigers in 2009 and ending Memphis' season in 2008. The U of M won the first-ever match between the two schools, 3-0, in 1986, and won four-straight against the Miners from 2006-08.
Last Time vs. UTEP
Memphis 3, UTEP 1
Memphis (13-8, 4-5 C-USA) 25 25 17 25
UTEP (12-10, 4-5 C-USA) 23 20 25 21
EL PASO, Texas-Marija Jovanovic connected for 24 kills and
Hajnalka Molnar handed out 48 assists as Memphis opened C-USA weekend action with a 3-1 win over UTEP at Memorial Gym on October 22.
The win snapped a two-match losing streak to the Miners and improves the Tigers to 13-8 overall, 4-5 in C-USA play. UTEP falls to 12-10, 4-5 in league action with its third-straight loss.
Jovanovic torched the Miner defense for a .452 hitting average. Memphis, who hit .296 in the match, also got 14 kills and a .619 attack percentage from middle blocker Altrese Hawkins. Vesna Jelic downed 10 kills.
Christine Bach picked up a match-high tying 11 digs for the Memphis defense. Jovanovic was productive on the defensive side of the net as well, making four total blocks. Cassidy Hawkins added two blocks solos and three block assists.
Who's Got Next?
The Tigers will wrap up the 2010 season with a pair of matches versus UAB, Nov. 24 and 27. The Tigers will make the short trip to Birmingham to take on the Blazers on Wed., Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. The two team will then end the season with a 7 p.m. showdown in Memphis on Sat., Nov. 27.
