University of Memphis Athletics
Saturday, September 19
Memphis, Tenn.
2:00 PM
University of Memphis
9-3
3
vs
1
Southern Miss
12-3
1
2
3
4
F
USM
22
16
25
15
1
Memphis
25
25
18
25
3
Photo by: Joe Murphy
Volleyball Downs Southern Miss, Falls to Mississippi State in Championship
Sep 19, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Tigers wrap up non-conference play with a 9-4 mark.
MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis volleyball team (9-4) capped their non-conference slate by splitting their final two non-conference games of the season, Saturday. Memphis downed Southern Miss (12-4), 3-1, then lost to Mississippi State (10-3) in the championship match, 3-0. Juniors Catlin Lilly and McKenzie Hayes were each named to the all-tournament team.
"I think we made some good progress in this tournament," Head Coach April Jauregui said. "We had some players step up. I think tonight, we were pretty gassed. It wasn't a really pretty match, but (Evie Grace Singleton) kind of lit us up, but congrats to them on a great weekend. We hope to rebound as we go in to conference this week."
Against Southern Miss, both Hayes and Lilly tallied double digit kills, while Lindsey Purvis added 21 digs. Michaella Moss added 16 digs, a season-high, and Veronica Zimmerman added a double-double of 38 assist and 15 digs.
The win over Southern Miss and Mississippi State's 3-0 win over Austin Peay, set up the Saturday nightcap match as the tournament's championship match.
In the first set, Memphis jumped out to a quick lead, forcing a Mississippi State timeout at 2-0 up, leading 8-5 following a kill from Summer Morgan. But Mississippi State knotted the score up at 11-all on a block of a Lilly attack and the two teams would wrestle the score back and forth, tying up at 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 before tournament MVP Evie Grace Singleton put down one of her game-high 16 kills to start a 5-2 Mississippi State run that pushed the Bulldogs in front 21-18.
The Tigers fought off two set points, but Bali Leffall-Young put down a kill for the 25-22 first set win.
In the second set, the Tigers fought to control their errors. In that set alone, Memphis was aced three times in serve-receive, had one ball handling and one blocking error, committing six attack errors and hitting .121 in the set. Memphis still stood in and took the Bulldogs to the wire in the set, falling 25-23 and hitting the locker room down 2-0.
After Michaella Moss and Mady Ruhlman helped spark a Tiger comeback in the waning points of the second set, the duo started the third set for Memphis. Moss downed five of her team-high eight kills in the third set alone, but took 20 of the team's 46 swings. Mississippi State adjusted the defense to her and Singleton answered with five kills of her own, including a kill at match point, for the Bulldogs' 10th win of the year.
Memphis will open American Athletic Conference play, Wednesday, at Cincinnati (8-3), at 7 p.m. (ET). Memphis won both matches against the Bearcats last season, 3-1.
"We just need to recover quickly," Jauregui said. "Our biggest test going in to Wednesday is how quickly we can bounce back and deal with travel and a little bit of adversity. We're going to play a really good Cincinnati team."
Cincinnati has won eight of their last 10 matches, including a 3-0 win over SIU Edwardsville, Saturday night.
"I think we made some good progress in this tournament," Head Coach April Jauregui said. "We had some players step up. I think tonight, we were pretty gassed. It wasn't a really pretty match, but (Evie Grace Singleton) kind of lit us up, but congrats to them on a great weekend. We hope to rebound as we go in to conference this week."
Against Southern Miss, both Hayes and Lilly tallied double digit kills, while Lindsey Purvis added 21 digs. Michaella Moss added 16 digs, a season-high, and Veronica Zimmerman added a double-double of 38 assist and 15 digs.
The win over Southern Miss and Mississippi State's 3-0 win over Austin Peay, set up the Saturday nightcap match as the tournament's championship match.
In the first set, Memphis jumped out to a quick lead, forcing a Mississippi State timeout at 2-0 up, leading 8-5 following a kill from Summer Morgan. But Mississippi State knotted the score up at 11-all on a block of a Lilly attack and the two teams would wrestle the score back and forth, tying up at 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 before tournament MVP Evie Grace Singleton put down one of her game-high 16 kills to start a 5-2 Mississippi State run that pushed the Bulldogs in front 21-18.
The Tigers fought off two set points, but Bali Leffall-Young put down a kill for the 25-22 first set win.
In the second set, the Tigers fought to control their errors. In that set alone, Memphis was aced three times in serve-receive, had one ball handling and one blocking error, committing six attack errors and hitting .121 in the set. Memphis still stood in and took the Bulldogs to the wire in the set, falling 25-23 and hitting the locker room down 2-0.
After Michaella Moss and Mady Ruhlman helped spark a Tiger comeback in the waning points of the second set, the duo started the third set for Memphis. Moss downed five of her team-high eight kills in the third set alone, but took 20 of the team's 46 swings. Mississippi State adjusted the defense to her and Singleton answered with five kills of her own, including a kill at match point, for the Bulldogs' 10th win of the year.
Memphis will open American Athletic Conference play, Wednesday, at Cincinnati (8-3), at 7 p.m. (ET). Memphis won both matches against the Bearcats last season, 3-1.
"We just need to recover quickly," Jauregui said. "Our biggest test going in to Wednesday is how quickly we can bounce back and deal with travel and a little bit of adversity. We're going to play a really good Cincinnati team."
Cincinnati has won eight of their last 10 matches, including a 3-0 win over SIU Edwardsville, Saturday night.
Team Stats
USM
MEMPHIS
Kills
47
49
Errors
31
17
Attempts
159
140
Hitting %
.101
.229
Points
57.0
63.0
Assists
45
47
Aces
4
6
Blocks
6.0
8.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
RS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
S
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