University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Tulane
Tigers Travel to Tulane/Houston to Open American Play
Sep 25, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
First Serve
The Memphis volleyball team travels to New Orleans on Friday and Houston on Sunday to open American Athletic Conference play against Tulane and Houston. The Tigers go into the weekend riding an eight-match winning streak, the longest streak since 2004 and lengthiest run under head coach April Jauregui.
Memphis Head Coach April Jauregui (97-107), who is in her seventh-year at the helm of the volleyball program, needs three victories to eclipse the 100-win plateau.
Conference Openers
In its first season in the American Athletic Conference, the University of Memphis volleyball team posted a 7-11 record for a seventh place finish. The Tigers are 3-9 in the first weekend of conference play under Jauregui.
Staying Connected
To learn more about the Memphis volleyball team and the rest of Tiger Athletics, visit GoTigersGo.com and follow @MemphisVolley on Twitter and Instagram.
Can You Dig It?
• Memphis currently ranks sixth in the country in digs-per-set, averaging 17.63 through the first 14 matches of the season.
•Senior Aleksandra Petronijevic broke the school's all-time dig mark in the teams five-set victory over Mississippi State. The Serbian covered the court with ease, recording an astounding 35 digs in the match. The libero now has 1,859 digs in her career and ranks sixth in the NCAA and at the top of the American Conference individually with 5.57 digs/set.
Underclassmen Killing It
• Memphis underclassmen have accounted for 426 of the teams 727 total kills or almost 60-percent (58.60).
• Freshman Kate Gibson leads the team with 151 kills and 180.5 points. The Sedalia, Colo., native has recorded seven double-doubles, including four-straight matches from Sept. 12-13 as well as the Maroon Classic Tournament MVP. Gibson logged a pair of season-high's this past weekend against Mercer when she recorded 19 kills and a .381 hitting percentage.
• Sophomore Catlin Lilly continues to top her breakout freshman campaign where she had more kills than a Tigers' true-freshman since Altrese Hawkins in 2009. The New Albany, Ind., native has recorded five-matches of 10+ kills and a trio of double-doubles. Lilly is already nearing a career-high in digs after the first 14 matches, needing 24 more to match her freshman totals.
• Freshman Oluchi Agomuo has also accounted for 126 kills through the first 14 matches. This past weekend, the Texas native set new season-bests in assists (1), kills (16), hitting percentage (.324), digs (15), blocks (4.0) and points 18.0 at the Lady Vol Classic in Knoxville.
Upperclassmen Tops in American
• Senior Lauren Wright, the Tigers' lone member on the preseason All-Conference team, picked up her 1,000th career point on Aug. 30 against Alabama. The Texas native needs 51 kills to become the 23rd-player in school history to surpass the 1,000 kill-plateau. Wright currently ranks seventh in the American Athletic Conference in hitting-percentage at .368. This past weekend Wright logged 19 kills against Austin Peay, the second-highest mark in her illustrious career.
• With 116 assists at the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic in St. Louis, junior setter Veronica Zimmerman was named to the All-Tournament team after three-straight double-double performances. The Toledo, Ohio, native moved into eighth-place in the all-time record book against Ole Miss and surpassed 2,000 assists against UT Martin. Zimmerman is fourth in the American in assists/set and needs 201 more to move into seventh-place in the Tigers all-time record book.
• Junior Alexis Wesley leads the team with 59 blocks and is averaging better than a stuff-per-game to rank fifth in the conference. The middle blocker has logged 13 solo blocks and 46 block assists through the first 14 matches.
Tigers Win Maroon Classic
• Last weekend, Memphis went 4-0 at the Maroon Classic hosted by Mississippi State to bring the tournament crown back to the Bluff City.
• Freshman Kate Gibson was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after recording double-digit kills in all four matches, three of which only last three sets.
• Senior Aleksandra Petronijevic and junior Alexis Wesley were also named to the All-Tournament teams after stellar performances by the upperclassmen.
Back-to-Back Tourney Champs
• The Blue and Gray notched consecutive-tournament championships for the first time since 2011 with victories over Mercer, Tennessee, Montana State and Austin Peay. • Senior Lauren Wright was named the tournament MVP after posting 42 kills and a .491 swing percentage.
• Junior Veronica Zimmerman and freshman Oluchi Agomuo were both named to the All-Tournament team after top-flight efforts.
Conference Standings
School Conf. Overall Streak
SMU 0-0 11-1 W11
Temple 0-0 9-3 W3
East Carolina 0-0 6-2 L1
Tulsa 0-0 8-3 W3
MEMPHIS 0-0 10-4 W8
Cincinnati 0-0 8-4 W1
Houston 0-0 8-4 W2
UConn 0-0 7-4 L1
UCF 0-0 7-5 L4
USF 0-0 6-6 W2
Tulane 0-0 2-10 W1
• Senior Lauren Wright was named to the All-Conference team after leading the squad with 408.5 points in her junior campaign
• The Tigers were picked to finish eighth in the American, despite returning four starters and eight letterwinners
• SMU was pegged as the preseason favorite by American Athletic after receiving 9-of-11 first-place votes
