Tigers Volleyball Wins Third Straight, Defeats Tulane Sunday

Sunday, October 23

Memphis, Tenn.

1 pm

University of Memphis

11-11, 3-7

Tulane

13-9, 5-5

Tulane

Memphis

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Tigers Volleyball Wins Third Straight, Defeats Tulane Sunday

Oct 23, 2016 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Memphis-Tulane Boxscore Memphis Season Stats

Hayes, Kadiku with career highs in kills.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis senior McKenzie Hayes and freshman Brianna Kadiku both recorded career highs in kills and senior Catlin Lilly had her fourth double-double in as many matches to lift the Tigers to a 3-2 marathon five-set victory over Tulane Sunday. Memphis won the match by scores of 25-23, 33-31, 18-25, 18-25 and 15-12.

The win improved Memphis' record to 11-11 overall and 3-7 in the American Athletic Conference. It was the Tigers' third-consecutive victory. Tulane, which was 7-1 in road matches coming into Sunday's encounter, fell to 13-9 overall and 5-5 in the league.

Hayes posted a career-high 20 kills, and Kadiku added a career-best 11 kills. Hayes' previous career high for kills was 18 versus Austin Peay in 2015. Hayes also had six digs, and Kadiku had six blocks.

Lilly recorded 14 kills and 12 digs for her fourth-straight double-double performance and her sixth of the season. Junior Regan Comperry also had a double-double of 38 assists and 14 digs. The double-double was Comperry's fifth of the season. Sophomore Mady Ruhlman collected a season-best 25 digs in the victory. Freshman Tai Bierria nearly had a double-double with 10 kills and nine digs.

"This match was tough, but I'm thrilled for our players," said head coach April Jauregui. "I couldn't have asked for a better day. Even though we had a two-set lead, we knew this match was going the distance, and we had to be ready to battle. To get this win today sets us up for the second half of conference play.

"To have a three-match win streak to close the first half of conference play is a confidence-builder for us. Our players now know what we're capable of, and our offense is clicking."

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 set lead with two narrow two-point wins. Through the first two sets, there were 35 ties and 14 lead changes.

Memphis pulled out a 25-23 win in the opening set, but it didn't start well. The Tigers fell behind 8-2 early, but used a 7-1 spurt to knot the score at 9-all. Three Kadiku kills powered the run and helped Memphis to get back in the match. From there, the squads battled back-and-forth until Tulane pushed out to a 21-19 advantage. The Tigers, however, fought back to tie the set at 23-all and then took the final two points for the set win.

In the second set, Memphis tried to match the length of its Friday third set against Houston, but settled for a 33-31 win. The Tigers won Friday's third set over Houston 35-33. This afternoon's second set had 23 ties and 10 lead changes.

The second set was close early with six ties, the last at 10-all. Tulane then put together a 5-1 run to take a 15-11 advantage. Memphis did not go away for a second-straight set, using a 5-0 spurt to regain the lead at 16-15. Two Hayes' kills ignited the run.

For the remainder of the set, the largest lead was one point. Tulane led 25-24 and had the first opportunity to take the set, but a Bierria kill tied the score at 25-all. Memphis' first chance to close the set came after a Summer Morgan kill gave the Tigers a 27-26 lead, but Tulane responded with a kill to tie the set at 27-all.

After a Tigers service error tied the match at 31-all, Lilly and Comperry converted back-to-back attack opportunities for the 33-31 win.

The Green Wave bounced back in set No. 3 to take a 25-18 win. Memphis took an early advantage at 8-7 on a Lilly kill, but that's when Tulane took control of the set. The Green Wave used a 5-0 spurt for a 12-8 lead and continued to extend their advantage, building a nine-point bulge at 24-15 that Memphis could not overcome.

Tulane evened the match with another 25-18 win in the fourth set. As it did in the opening set, Memphis got down early, but this time, had no answers. The Green Wave built an early 7-2 lead and were never really threatened in the set. The Tigers closed to within one point at 12-11, but could not get the equalizer. From there, Tulane put together a 7-2 run to take a 19-13 advantage and put the set out of reach.

In the deciding fifth set, the teams stayed within striking distance of each other and were tied 6-all early. Tulane threw the first punch of set No. 5, grabbing a 9-7 advantage. The Tigers, as they did all match, roared back. Memphis went on a 6-1 run to take a 13-10 lead. Three Lilly kills spurred on the Tigers to the lead. Memphis then took advantage of two Tulane service errors to claim the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.

Memphis heads back out on the road next weekend for American Athletic Conference action at Temple and Connecticut. The Tigers play the Owls Friday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. (CT) and the Huskies Sunday, Oct. 30 at 11 a.m. (CT).