Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller Over UConn

Friday, October 18

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm CT

University of Memphis

11-8,7-0AAC

Connecticut* (Alumni Weekend)

8-11,3-4AAC

UConn

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Oct 19, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Flowers, O'Connor with career-highs for kills, blocks Friday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis' Hannah Flowers and Andrea O'Connor both had career performances to lift the Tigers to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over visiting Connecticut in American Athletic Conference action at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Friday night.

The contest was the Tigers' Pow6rful Minds match and also was a part of Memphis volleyball's Alumni Weekend.

Memphis won the match by scores of 17-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23 and 15-12. With the win, the Tigers improved to 12-7 overall and 1-6 in the league. The Huskies fell to 8-11 overall and 2-5 in the conference.

Up Next
The Tigers host Temple Sunday, Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. (CT) at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The Owls dropped a 3-0 decision at SMU Friday.

Head coach Sean Burdette comments
(On the win)
"It's great to get the win. So much credit needs to go out to, number one, the team, them pulling together. Secondly, the crowd here was phenomenal. That's what it's about, building that atmosphere, building that culture not only for our student-athletes, but also for our community to get involved. It was awesome to see that here tonight from start to finish."

(On depending on his young players in the match)
"I told them that we're dead-smack in the middle of October, and it's not freshman time anymore. Go out and play how you know, enjoy it and play in the moment. We did a good job of allowing the errors roll off our backs and not let those dictate the rest of the set."

(On Hannah Flowers' play)
"She put herself in a position to be a leader this week. She worked hard tonight, and she made good demands in key situations of getting the ball. Sabrina (Bianco) did a good job of moving the ball around and made good choices at the right times."

(On Andrea O'Connor playing against her home state school)
"It's something she's not going to talk about, but for her, she wants to step out every time and do the best she can. I'm really proud of her. I'm also proud of Mia, Anna Palmer, Anna Hayes and Jada. All did good jobs of coming in and getting key kills and blocks in the second part of the match."

Tigers Tidbits

Friday's five-setter was Memphis' fifth of the season and the Tigers' fourth in conference play.
Friday's match versus Connecticut was the final regular-season encounter between the two programs as league opponents. The Huskies are moving to the Big East Conference in the summer of 2020.
Hannah Flowers downed a career-high 22 kills versus the Huskies Friday. Her previous-high was 20 kills twice in 2018 (vs. Ole Miss, SMU).
Hannah Flowers also tied a career-best with six total blocks.
Andrea O'Connor, a Connecticut native, also set career-bests for kills (11) and total blocks (9) against her home-state Huskies. Her previous-highs were nine kills versus South Dakota State and six total blocks versus UT Martin earlier this season.
Sabrina Bianco posted her third 50-assists match of the season and of her career. All three 50-assists performances have come in the last seven matches. Her 55 assists Friday were five shy of her career-high 60 at Houston three weeks ago.
Sabrina Bianco also nearly matched her career-best in digs with 19 Friday. Her career-high is 21 against Tulane earlier this season.
Anna Hayes collected a career-high 11 digs Friday.
Anna Palmer posted a season-best 12 kills versus the Huskies.

Statistic	Memphis Leaders	Connecticut Leaders
Kills	Hannah Flowers, 22	Caylee Parker, 23
Assists	Sabrina Bianco, 55	Madi Whitmire, 35
Digs	Sabrina Bianco, 19	Mia Ruffolo, 18
Aces	Kaitlyn Gehler, 2	Two players, 2
Blocks	Andrea O'Connor, 9	Genna Florig, 3

First Set

Connecticut took an 4-2 lead and never trailed.
Memphis closed to within one at 7-6 on an Andrea O'Connor kill, but never got the equalizer.
The Huskies went on 4-1 run to extend their lead to 11-7 and steadily built on their advantage on the way to a 25-17 win.

Second Set

Memphis took a 4-2 lead on a Hannah Flowers kill.
The Huskies went on an 8-4 run to take a 10-8 advantage.
Connecticut extended its lead to 14-11 when the Tigers turned the set their way.
Memphis put together a 4-0 run to grab a 15-14 advantage.
The score remained tied or a one-point advantage over the next four points.
Memphis pushed out to an 18-16 lead on an Anna Palmer kill and service ace.
The Huskies responded with a 5-1 run to take a 21-19 lead.
The Tigers answered with a 3-1 spurt to tie the set at 22-all on a Flowers kill.
Memphis continued its run up to 6-1 and closed the set with the 25-22 win. Flowers ended the set with her 10^thkill of the match.

Third Set

Like the first set, the visitors from Storrs, Conn., grabbed the early lead at 7-3 and never trailed.
The Tigers used an 8-4 spurt to knot the set at 11-all on a Kaitlyn Gehler service ace.
The Huskies regained the advantage at 15-12 with a 3-1 run.
Connecticut pushed out to a four-point lead at 19-15 and extended the advantage to six at 24-18.
Memphis scored the next three points on kills from Flowers, Palmer and Jada Birkel to pull to within three at 24-21.
The Huskies got the next point for the 25-21 win.

Fourth Set

Connecticut rushed out to a 5-2 lead, forcing an early Memphis timeout.
The Tigers responded and took a 7-6 advantage on a Huskies' error.
The set was tied at 11-all when Memphis pushed out to a 13-11 lead off consecutive attack errors from Connecticut.
Memphis remained in front until 18-15 when the Huskies made a run.
Connecticut put together a 5-0 spurt to grab a 20-18 lead.
The Huskies extended their advantage to 23-20 and were two points away from match victory.
Memphis held its ground and answered with a 5-0 run to take the set 25-23.
Flowers paced the run with two kills, including the set winner that was her 20^thkill of the match.

Fifth Set

For the first time since the second set, Memphis took the early lead at 6-2 and forced a Connecticut timeout.
Three different Tigers posted a kill in the run.
The Huskies answered with two-straight points to slice the Tigers' advantage to 6-4.
Memphis bounced back and extended its lead to 9-5, forcing another Huskies' timeout.
Connecticut responded with a 7-3 spurt to knot the set at 12-all.
Memphis didn't falter and took the set's last three points for the 15-12 win and 3-2 match victory.
Flowers played a huge role in the last three points, scoring one on a kill and another on a block-assist with O'Connor.