Volleyball Drops 3-2 Decision To Connecticut

Sunday, November 5

Memphis, Tenn.

1 pm CT

University of Memphis

9-17, 2-12

Connecticut

11-15, 4-10

UConn

Memphis

Hannah Flowers/Brianna Kadiku, 2017 Volleyball

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Nov 05, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Memphis-Connecticut Boxscore Memphis Season Statistics (Overall Matches)Memphis Season Statistics (Conference Matches Only)

Tigers on the road next weekend at Cincinnati, ECU.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis sophomore Tai Bierria recorded a double-double (kills-digs), but Connecticut came away with a 3-2 American Athletic Conference victory over the Tigers Sunday. The Huskies won the match by scores of 25-22, 15-25, 14-25, 25-13 and 15-10.

With the setback, the Tigers fell to 9-17 overall and 2-12 in the American Athletic Conference. The Huskies improved to 11-15 overall and 4-10 in the league.

Up Next
Memphis goes back on the road next weekend with matches at Cincinnati Friday and ECU Sunday. Next weekend's road trip starts a stretch in which the Tigers close the 2017-18 season playing five of its final six matches away from the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.

Head coach April Jauregui
"In the second and third sets we won, we were clicking and playing at a high level. We were executing our offense, serving and passing well. Unfortunately in the three sets we lost, our first-ball contact was off a little. But, credit to UConn. They battled back. They could have rolled over, but they didn't. That shows how tough our conference is from top to bottom.

"Today's match was going to be a little tough after the five-setter we played Friday. Fatigue began to set in a little. We knew they were going to target in on Brianna (Kadiku) and Hannah (Flowers) after their performances on Friday, so we knew we needed a collective team effort. Unfortunately, we weren't able to balance our attack to sneak it out there at the end."

Tigers Tidbits

Tai Bierria logged her 10^th double-double (kills-digs) of 2017. She had 14 kills and 18 digs vs. the Huskies.
Bierria's double-double was her sixth in the Tigers' last 11 matches.
Bierria's 18 digs were one shy of tying her career-high (19). She collected 19 digs in the season opener vs. Bradley Aug. 25.
The double-digit kills match was Bierria's 12^th of the season. Her double-figures digs performance was her 13^th of the campaign.
Freshman Hannah Flowers, in only her fourth match back after missing five due to an illness, knocked down 11 kills vs. Connecticut Sunday. She totaled 27 kills in the weekend's two matches.
Freshman Alyssa Kronberg collected double-digit digs for the 17^th time this season (20 vs. Connecticut). It was her fourth-straight match with double-figures digs.
For the fourth time in the last five matches, freshman Kate Hoerdemann collected double-digit digs in a match. She had 12 vs. the Huskies.
Kelsea Bivins posted a season-best six total blocks vs. the Huskies. Her previous-high was four blocks vs. USF Oct. 1.
For the second time this season, Brianna Kadiku came within one block of tying her career-best mark. She had eight total blocks vs. Connecticut. It was her 12^th match with five or more total blocks in 2017. Kadiku's career-high in total blocks is nine vs. Temple in 2016.
Redshirt freshman Natale Zanellato and junior Mady Ruhlman did not play Sunday due to injuries.

Memphis vs. Connecticut Stats Leaders

Statistic	Memphis	Connecticut
Kills	Tai Bierria, 14 Hannah Flowers, 11 Brianna Kadiku, 19	Ally Barrett, 17 Iman McGary, 12 Genna Florig, 10
Assists	Regan Comperry, 22 Faith Myers, 17	Emma Turner, 56
Digs	Alyssa Kronberg, 20 Tai Bierria, 18 Kate Hoerdemann, 12	Kennedy Arundel, 18 Elizabeth Kline, 13 Ally Barrett/ Iman McGary, 10
Total Blocks	Brianna Kadiku, 8 Kelsea Bivins, 6	Tosin Adeniyi, 4

How It Happened

Overall Match
- The match had 18 ties and seven lead changes.
- The five-setter was Memphis' second-straight, after defeating Temple 3-2 Friday.
Set One (Connecticut 25-22)
- The Tigers fell behind early and never grabbed a lead in the set.
- Memphis tied the score a couple of times in the set's opening moments at 1-all and 5-all.
- From that point, the Huskies pushed out to a four-point edge at 13-9.
- Connecticut continued to build its lead and led by as many as seven at 20-13.
- The Tigers then made a 9-3 run to pull to within one at 23-22.
- Memphis got nearly half of their points in the spurt from blocks.
- Kelsea Bivins, Kate Hoerdemann and Brianna Kadiku each logged two total blocks in the run.
- Kills from Hoerdemann and Hannah Flowers and a service ace from Regan Comperry cut the Huskies' lead to 23-22.
- The Huskies halted the Memphis run with the set's final two points for the win.
Set Two (Memphis 25-15)
- The set's first 15 points included all five ties and all five lead changes in the second game.
- Memphis tied the set at 7-all on a Flowers kill, and then grabbed the lead for good at 8-7 on a second-straight Flowers kill.
- The Tigers went on a 6-3 run to push their advantage to 14-10.
- Sarah Marlatt, Flowers and Bierria each logged a kill in the spurt.
- Memphis continued to build on its lead and extended it to 20-13.
- Bivins recorded a kill and a block in the run for the Tigers.
- The Tigers closed out the set with a 5-2 spurt for the 25-15 win.
- Memphis finished the game with consecutive combo-blocks from Marlatt/Flowers and Flowers/Kadiku.
Set Three (Memphis 25-14)
- Connecticut grabbed a 1-0 lead, and Memphis tied the set at 1-all.
- From that point, the Tigers took control and never trailed again.
- Memphis put together a 9-2 run to push out to a 10-3 advantage.
- Bivins and Bierria each had two kills in the run.
- The Huskies closed to within five at 11-6, but Memphis quickly answered and put away the set.
- The Tigers went on a 9-3 spurt for a 20-9 lead.
- Four different Tigers downed a kill in the spurt.
- Memphis cruised to the set win and a 2-1 match lead.

Set Four (Connecticut 25-13)
- Memphis was only able to tie the score four times in the set's first 10 points and never led.
- The Huskies went on a 4-0 run to grab the lead for good at 9-5.
- A Marlatt kill cut the Connecticut lead to 9-6, but Memphis got no closer the rest of the way.
- The Huskies pushed out to a 16-9 lead and cruised on from there to the set win.
Set Five (Connecticut 15-10)
- Memphis grabbed an early 3-1 lead, which was keyed by a Bierria kill and a Kadiku-Bivins combo-block.
- The Tigers maintained their advantage up to 7-6 on a Hoerdemann kill.
- The Huskies, though, battled back with a 4-0 run to claim a 10-7 advantage.
- The Tigers closed to within three at 13-10 on another Kadiku-Bivins block.
- Connecticut wrapped up the set and match with the final two scores.