University of Memphis
Tennessee State
Memphis Sweeps Tennessee State in Battle of the Tigers
Sep 10, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2010
Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -
Tennessee State (0-6) 22 19 19 Memphis (5-2) 25 25 25Altrese Hawkins and Marija Jovanovic both slammed 10 kills, and Cassidy Hawkins added four solo blocks to lead Memphis to a sweep of Tennessee State in the Memphis Invitational Friday night at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The U of M improves to 5-2 on the year, while TSU drops to 0-6.
The Memphis defense held Tennessee State to a .066 attack percentage for the match, including limiting TSU to -.036 in the final set of Friday's home opener. Cassidy Hawkins finished the night with five total blocks and Altrese chipped in with three total rejections. Christine Bach led all players with 12 digs.
It was all about the defense and forcing Tennessee State into committing errors on Friday night and the Tigers saved their strongest performance for the final set of the night. Ahead 2-0 in the contest, Memphis jumped out to a 4-1 lead after a pair of TSU attacking errors. The Tigers used two more TSU hitting errors and two kills by Jovanovic to kick start a five-point run for a 13-6 lead midway through. The U of M led by as many as seven points, 21-14, after another TSU error, before Katlin Inglish put the finishing touches on the sweep with a match-ending strike.
Memphis, who hit .218 on the night, got out to a strong start, hitting .33 in the opening frame. Trailing 4-2 early on, the Tigers responded with a 6-0 run that was fueled by four straight kills by the U of M offense. Jovanovic ignited the surge with two kills and Inglish and Altrese Hawkins trailed with kills of their own to make it 8-4 and force a TSU timeout. The feisty Tennessee State club battled to keep things close and cut the Memphis lead to just one at 12-11. But the U of M rattled off scores on eight of the next 10 serves to take a commanding 20-13 lead. TSU continued to fight and scored the next four points to make it 20-17. The Lady Tigers cut Memphis' lead as close as two points, 24-22, but Memphis was able to hold on for the 25-22 win.
Memphis and Tennessee State battled to a 10-10 tie halfway through the second, before a kill by Altrese Hawkins set the U of M on a 4-0 run. The Tigers never looked back and extended the lead to seven, at 18-11, after another kill by Hawkins. Memphis never let TSU any closer than six points to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
The Tigers will round out the Memphis Invitational with a pair of matches on Saturday. Memphis will host LaSalle at 1 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. meeting with Air Force.
