University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
at Marshall
Marshall Thunders Past Volleyball 3-0
Nov 13, 2005 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 13, 2005
HUNTINGTON, W.V. -
Memphis-Marshall boxscore in PDF Format
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Memphis (16-15; 7-7 C-USA) 17 22 25 Marshall (23-5; 15-1 C-USA) 30 30 30
Marshall avenged its lone Conference USA loss with a dominant sweep of Memphis Sunday afternoon in the league finale for both teams. Memphis, who hit just .121 in the match, was led by senior Nancy Nellans' eight kills. Marshall hit .370 in the contest and was paced by C-USA Preseason Player of the Year Kelly-Anne Billingy's 16 kills.
Marshall wasted little time asserting its dominance, racing out to a 17-5 lead. The Tigers were awarded their first four points on Marshall errors and did not record its own points until block assists from Shelby Burton and Laura Côtè to make it 15-5. Memphis would score three more points before senior Fehi Tuivai downed the team's first kill of the afternoon. After falling behind by 12, Memphis scored 10 of the next 16 points. However, the deficit was too large as the Herd rolled to a 30-17 opening-game win. The Tigers hit -.029 with seven kills and digs in the first set.
Game two saw the U of M jump out to a 6-3 lead behind the serve of Christen Clayton. But Marshall overpowered Memphis with a 7-2 run and never trailed again. The Tigers, who hit .090 in the second set, pulled to with two points on three occasions before a four-point Herd rally put the frame out of reach at 23-17. Marshall posted an 18-9 advantage in kills in game two and hit .481. Memphis made just four digs in the game.
The Tigers hit .312 in the final frame and kept things close despite a 5-1 Marshall run to start the game. Nellans capped a 4-1 push by the Tigers to close the gap to 14-12, but Marshall responded with a 5-0 surge of its own to take control of a 19-13 lead. The Herd hit .351 and nailed 19 kills in the clincher.
Junior Colette Ramirez led the U of M in hitting with a .286 percentage. She downed seven kills in the match, including four in the final game. Clayton led Memphis with seven digs.
Behind Billingy, Nickie Sanlin was the only other Marshall player to reach double digits in kills with 11. Libero Maggie Arias posted a match-high 13 digs, while Stephanie Cahill added 11 digs for Herd, who out dug Memphis 50-21.
