University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Belmont
Tiger Volleyball Upends Belmont in Five-Set Battle
Aug 28, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 28, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
Memphis (1-1) 16 26 25 16 15 Belmont (1-1) 25 24 19 25 11
For the second-straight match, Altrese Hawkins led all performers with 18 kills and Marija Jovanovic added 11 kills to lead Memphis to a 3-2 win over host-school Belmont, Saturday afternoon at the Belmont Invitational.
"Belmont is a solid team," said Memphis head coach April Jauregui. "The y made some crucial errors with their serving game and I think that really helped us out in the end. We still just have to keep working on our system and our lineup. Our offense needs to pick up quite a bit, but as far as defensively and passing, I think we're playing really well."
Belmont helped Memphis by committing 20 serving errors, while the Tigers helped themselves with a 53-39 advantage in digs. Christine Bach led Memphis with 12 digs. Becky Shaffer picked up 10 digs for the Tiger defense.
After Belmont gained the momentum with a set-four win, Memphis got out to a quick 3-1 lead on consecutive kills by Hawkins. The Bruins bounced back to take a 6-4 lead after scoring on five of the next six serves. Behind two kills each from Jovanovic and Katlin Inglish, Memphis returned the rally to go up 9-7. Belmont tied the set at 11, but the Tigers never let go of the advantage. A Belmont service error, followed by a blocking error and two attacking errors cliniched the win for Memphis.
Memphis spotted Belmont six points to open the afternoon and was never able to make up the deficit. The Tigers did, however, make it close after Katie Meyer downed a kill and Altrese Hawkins followed with a solo block and a kill of her own to close the gap to 11-8. But Belmont regained its early-set control and pushed the lead to 20-10. The Memphis defense made two blocks, but gave up 13 kills and a .500 hitting percentage in the first.
The Tigers came out strong in the second period and claimed a 6-2 lead on a kill by Inglish. Belmont responded quickly with four-straight points to knot the set at 6-all. Memphis used a kill by Meyer and an ace by Bach to regain the lead 9-6, but the Bruins again fought back--this time with a six-point run to take a 12-9 advantage. BU extended the lead to four points before Memphis got into a rhythm. Inglish struck for a kill and Jovanovic followed with two kills as the Tigers scored on 10 of the next 12 serves for a commanding 21-17 cushion. With Memphis holding a 24-22 lead, Belmont continued to battle and tied the set at 24 on a kill and an attacking error by the Tiger offense. But Inglish came through again, connecting for one of her four second-set kills, to give Memphis the 25-24 advantage. A Bruins ball-handling error sealed the set for the Tigers.
Memphis only produced seven kills and hit just .080 in the third, but made 16 digs, while taking took advantage of timely opportunities and five Belmont serving errors to take a 2-1 lead in the match. A pair of block assists by Holly Fong and Meyer, combined with three kills by Altrese Hawkins gave the Tigers a 6-2 cushion early. Assisted stuffs by Altrese and Cassidy Hawkins pushed the lead to 16-11. The Bruins closed the Tiger's lead to two points before committing three offensive errors to help Memphis to a 23-18 lead.
Belmont, who hit a solid .346 in the fourth, pushed out to a 15-9 lead midway through the set en route to forcing a deciding set. The Bruins used a 5-1 surge to extend their advantage to 20-11. Memphis could come no closer than eight points, 22-14, before dropping the fourth set 25-16. The Tigers hit just .087 in the frame on eight kills.
Hawkins hit .382 in match. Fong set 24 assists and Inglish downed nine kills for the Tiger offense.
