Tigers Volleyball Sweeps Eastern Illinois Friday Night

Friday, September 2

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm

University of Memphis

3-2

Eastern Illinois

0-6

Eastern Illinois

Memphis

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Tigers Volleyball Sweeps Eastern Illinois Friday Night

Sep 02, 2016 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Memphis-Eastern Illinois Boxscore Memphis Season Stats

Memphis, Louisiana Tech to meet for Tiger Invite title at 2 pm Saturday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis seniors Catlin Lilly, Summer Morgan and Michaella Moss made sure the Tigers volleyball squad went 2-0 in Friday action at the 2016 Tiger Invitational.

Memphis defeated Eastern Illinois 3-0 by scores of 25-23, 25-20 and 25-20 to remain unbeaten in Tiger Invitational play and set up a championship match with Louisiana Tech Saturday at 2 p.m. (CT) at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The Tiger defeated Jackson State 3-0 earlier Friday. Louisiana Tech also posted two wins Friday.

Memphis improved to 3-2 on the young season. Eastern Illinois fell to 0-6.

Morgan had a match-best 11 kills and a .556 attack percentage, and Lilly added 10 kills and six digs. Moss, who moved to libero for the first time in her career in Friday's two matches, piled up 21 digs. Regan Comperry had 34 assists. In her second career start, freshman Addison Root had eight kills and two digs.

The Tigers had to battle to get the 3-0 victory over the Panthers and showed some mettle when the match got tight in each set.

"We passed the ball better, and we were able to get some better looks offensively," said Tigers head coach April Jauregui. "We are now seeing the areas we focused on in practice this week. Mickey (Moss) had 21 digs, and that's been a positive change with her picking up a lot of balls. The team has responded well after this week of practice."

In the opening set, Memphis and Eastern Illinois were tied at 9-all, but a 6-2 mini-run gave the Tigers some breathing room at 15-11. From there, Memphis maintained its slim advantage to take the first set 25-23. Lilly and Morgan each posted four kills in the first set, and Morgan had a .500 attack percentage. Moss collected 11 of her 21 digs in the first set.

Much like the first set, the second was tight at the start with the score tied at 11-all. The Tigers, though, put together an 8-1 spurt to push their advantage to 19-12. The Panthers cut the lead to 24-20, before Memphis won the second set on an Eastern Illinois service error. Morgan had five more kills and raised her attack percentage to .571 in the second set.

Memphis, once again, pulled away midway through the third set to take the match 3-0. The Tigers led only 10-9, but used an 8-1 run to increase their lead to 18-10. The Panthers cut the Memphis advantage to 24-20, but a Morgan kill wrapped up the set and the match for the Tigers.

Up next for Memphis is Louisiana Tech Saturday for the championship.

"Louisiana Tech is a much-improved team, even the squad we saw in the spring," Jauregui said. "They have a great libero and setter, and they are running at a faster tempo. We'll have to make some defensive adjustments. I hope our players come out hungry and compete for another win tomorrow."