2008 MEMPHIS VOLLEYBALL MEDIA GUIDE 29

Transcription

1 2007 Year-In-Review 2008 MEMPHIS VOLLEYBALL MEDIA GUIDE 29

2 2007 YEAR-IN-REVIEW Sarah Bury Laura Côté With its top four offensive players returning from a team that finished the 2006 season with a 27-8 record and fell just points shy of a Conference USA championship, the 2007 Memphis Tiger volleyball looked to put together the program s seventh-straight.500 or better season. The Tigers opened the season with one of its toughest opponents on the 2007 schedule in the Louisville Cardinals at the Louisville Invitational. Despite putting up a valiant effort against the former C-USA rival, the talented U of L squad proved to be too much, knocking the Tigers off 3-1 in the season opener. Memphis got a match-high 14 kills from both and Sarah Bury, while libero Christine Bach led all players with 23 digs in her first collegiate contest. Memphis looked to get on track versus Tennessee Tech in the next contest, but a fast start quickly fizzled out, and the Eagles took advantage of fatigue with 15 blocks to send the Tigers to a 3-1 loss. After its 0-2 start, the squad got on the board in the win column with a sweep of Coastal Carolina in its final match of the Louisville Invitational. The Memphis offense finally got going, led by a double-double performance by senior (17 kills, 11 digs), who hit.319 to finish in third place in the four-team field. It was on to the Eastern Illinois/Pepsi Challenge the following weekend. Despite losing the opening match of the weekend, a determined Memphis squad bounced back with sweeps in each of the final four contests of the tournament to claim second place. Memphis head coach Carrie Yerty made history with her club s sweep of Indiana State. The win was her 213th as the Tiger volleyball coach, propelling her into the top spot on the U of M s all-time coaching victories list. The U of M then came home to the friendly confines of the Elma Roane Fieldhouse to host the Memphis Invitational and Tiger Invitational in back-to-back weekends. The Tigers emerged from the final two preseason tournaments to win seven of eight outings, including six wins via the sweep. Burton gave Memphis fans a treat in a straight-set triumph over Stetson in the Memphis Invitational. The senior middle recorded the second-highest, single-match attack percentage in Memphis history (.810) when she cranked out 18 kills and committed just one error on 21 swings. A loss to UALR thwarted the Tigers championship bid in the Memphis Invitational, but four strong outings, including an impressive come-from-behind win over Mississippi State, helped Yerty s crew to a co-champion finish in the Tiger Invitational. Riding the momentum of its 11-3 mark and a five-match win streak, the Tigers headed into the bulk of the Conference USA schedule. The first test was the long trip to El Paso, Texas, for a showdown with the UTEP Miners. Memphis continued to its strong play with a sweep of UTEP. The Tigers followed the lead of senior middle blocker Shelby MEMPHIS VOLLEYBALL MEDIA GUIDE Burton, who hammered home a match-high 15 kills and made nine blocks. Two days later, the Tigers six-match win streak quickly came to a halt as they were stymied by a talented Tulane Green Wave squad. Memphis had no answer for a strong Green Wave serving game, as it saw Tulane serve up 12 aces, while three Tulane hitters racked up at least 19 kills in a four-game Green Wave win. Memphis skid reached three games with losses at Southeast Missouri and UAB. The Tigers continued to struggle defensively, and despite a career-high 29 kills by senior and 17 more from Sarah Bury, the Tigers were unable to hold off Southeast Missouri in a five-game, non-conference decision. Memphis was unable to bounce back in the next contest and never threatened the Blazers in a three-set loss. The road got no easier for the Tigers as they traveled to Conway, Ark., take on UCA in hopes of rebounding from their slide. Lauren Thompson put up a career night of 11 kills and 12 digs to lead the Tiger back to their winnings ways in a hard-fought, four-frame victory. Memphis regained its confidence and momentum from the UCA win and went on the grab three-consecutive C-USA victories over Southern Miss, UCF and East Carolina to improve to 16-7 on the year. With more than half of its season under its belt, the U of M braced for its toughest C- USA match of the year a battle versus the league s top team in the Marshall Thunder-

3 ing Herd in Huntington, W.Va. The Tigers stunned the Herd and its fans early, taking a 2-0 lead going into the break. However, after 17 reception errors, Marshall battled back and handed Memphis a heart-breaking 3-2 loss. It did not take long for the Tigers to put the Marshall loss behind them, as they returned to the Elma Roane Fieldhouse to dismantle 2007 Honors All-Tournament Selections Louisville Invitational Laura Côté Eastern Illinois/Pepsi Challenge Memphis Invitational Tiger Invitational MOP - Sarah Bury C-USA Weekly Awards Player of the Week (9/17/07) Setter of the Week Laura Côté (9/17/07) Defensive Player of the Week Sarah Bury (10/8/07) Christine Bach (11/5/07) Postseason Honors All-C-USA First Team both Rice (3-0) and Houston (3-1) in backto-back matches. With the final stretch of the regular season on the horizon, the Tigers needed to maintain their success for the league tournament. They did just that, putting together a strong three-match win streak in which they defeated Southern Miss, UCF and SMU to put themselves in position for a top-four finish and a first-round bye in the upcoming C- USA Championships. The Memphis win at SMU came with one of the most impressive defensive performances the Tiger volleyball program has ever seen, as freshman libero Christine Bach made 13 digs in the opening set and had 20 digs after two frames en route to a program-record 35 digs. With just three league matches remaining, the Tiger were poised to grab a hold of a top-four finish. However, they could not keep the pace, losing two of its final three league matches to finish the regular season with an 11-5 league mark good enough for a No. 5 seed in the C-USA Championships. The fifth-seeded Tigers were paired with No. 12 UCF for the its third meeting against the Knights. With UCF having dropped all of its regular season league matches, the Knights were not an enviable opponent. The upsetminded UCF side fought to a game one win over the Tigers, but behind a career-high 30 kills and 21 digs from Liford, Memphis battled its way to a 3-1 win in the final match of the opening day of the 2007 Conference USA Championships. The U of M win set up a meeting with No. 4 Tulsa. Golden Hurricane outside hitter Fabiola Nepomuceno hit.455 with 22 kills on 44 attempts with only two errors on the evening. Setter Julia Silva, who earned C-USA Setter of the Year honors just days earlier, dished out 39 assists and had 10 digs for her league-best 29th double-double of the year. The Golden Hurricane offense overpowered the Tigers, sending Memphis to a seasonending 3-0 loss in the C-USA Championship quarterfinal round and bringing the illustrious Tiger careers of Burton and Liford to a close. The duo rounded out their Tiger careers as the most successful class in Tiger volleyball history. They recorded 2,955 kills and both went down as top-10 performers at Memphis in kills a feat no two seniors of the same class had ever accomplished. For her career, Liford finished third all-time at Memphis with 1,566 kills, and became just the second Tiger to ever record over 4,000 attempts. Burton finished ranked in a tie for sixth on Memphis all-time kills ledger with 1,389. Burton s.369 career attacking clip put her at the top of that U of M career chart. Liford and Burton wrapped up their careers with 93 victories YEAR-IN-REVIEW All-C-USA Second Team Laura Côté C-USA All-Academic Christine Bach AVCA All-America Honorable Mention AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team Academic All-District Laura Cote Christine Bach 2008 MEMPHIS VOLLEYBALL MEDIA GUIDE 31

4 2007 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS 2007 Season Highlights That total also surpassed her previous personal-best of 25 digs in a win over Houston (10/21/07). Bach was rewarded for her record-setting play in the Memphis back row, as she was named Conference USA s Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 5. Senior outside hitter was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Third Team as voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Middle blocker highlighted a group of four Tigers to earn C-USA postseason awards in Burton was named to the All-C-USA first team, while senior outside and junior setter Laura Côté were tabbed second team performers. Freshman libero Christine Bach joined Liford as the Tigers two All-Academic honorees. Former U of M coach Carrie Yerty became the program s all-time winningest coach when the Tigers defeated Indiana State in the EIU/Pepsi Challenge. The win was Yerty s 213th on the Memphis sideline, surpassing Diane Hale. Senior became the 20th Memphis volleyball player to reach 1,000 career kills when she posted 11 kills in a sweep of Loyola (Chicago) on Sept. 1. On Sept. 17, Tiger tandem Burton and Laura Côté teamed up to sweep the Conference USA weekly volleyball awards. Burton was tabbed co-player of the Week, sharing the honor with Kelly Wernert of East Carolina. Côté was recognized as the league s Setter of the Week. The duo garnered the honors after leading Memphis to a co-champion finish in the Tiger Invitational and a sweep of UAB in the C-USA opener. Utility player Sarah Bury was the third University of Memphis volleyball player to earn Conference USA weekly honors. Bury was tabbed a C-USA co-defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 8. Memphis freshman libero Christine Bach set a new U of M record when she picked up a program-best 35 digs (8.75 dpg) in a 3-1 win at SMU on Nov. 2. Her 35 digs tied the most digs in a four-game tilt in C-USA in 2007 and eclipsed Memphis former mark of 33 set by Rosie Glenn on Sept. 25, Senior became just the fifth Tiger volleyball player to ever reach the 30- kill mark when she belted a career-high 30 kills to lead Memphis past UCF 3-1 in firstround action of the 2007 C-USA Championships. Burton made Memphis volleyball history, when she was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Midwest Region first team for the second-consecutive season A week later, Burton again notched a Tiger first as she was selected as an AVCA Honorable Mention All-America performer for the second-straight year. Memphis finished the year with a mark representing the third time in four seasons that the program compiled over 20 wins. The winning record also marked the seventh-consecutive season that the Tigers played to a.500 or better finish MEMPHIS VOLLEYBALL MEDIA GUIDE

5 8 Middle Blocker 6 1 San Antonio, Texas (Holmes HS) Career Highlights Two-time AVCA First team All-Midwest Region honoree Two-time All-C-USA First Team selection Two-time AVCA Honorable Mention All-America Led Memphis in hitting percentage All-time leader in hitting percentage 20 th player to reach 1,000 kills Finished her career tied for sixth at Memphis with 1,389 career kills Second all-time at Memphis with 397 block assists Third on Memphis s career blocks list with 484 total rejections 4 Outside Hitter 6 0 San Antonio, Texas (James Madison HS) 2007 seniors and wrapped up their careers as one of the most successful classes in Memphis volleyball history. From , the duo helped Memphis to 93 victories the most wins over a four-year period since Memphis won 101 matches from The pair from San Antonio, Texas combined to put away 2,955 kills. Career Highlights Third all-time at Memphis and top-16 in C-USA with 1,566 kills The 17 th Tiger volleyball player to ever eclipse the 1,000 kill plateau Ranks second at Memphis with 4,011 attempts 2007 Second Team All C-USA 2007 Team captain Fourth Tiger volleyball player to reach the 30 kills when she slammed 30 vs. UCF in the C-USA Tournament on November 15, ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Third Team Two-time C-USA All-Academic honoree ( ) Combined 1,000 kills with 1,000 digs in her career SENIOR CLASS Career Highs Kills: vs. UALR (Sept. 8, 2007) Total Attempts: vs. Houston (Sept. 22, 2006) Assists:...4 at Southeast Missouri (Sept. 26, 2007) Service Aces:... 7 vs. Alcorn State (Sept. 1, 2006) Digs:... 7, three times, last at SMU (Nov. 2, 2007) Total Blocks: at Eastern Illinois (Aug. 31, 2007) Block Solos:... 3, twice, last vs. Mississippi State (Sept. 8, 2007) Block Assists:...9 at Eastern Illinois (Aug. 31, 2007) Career Highs Kills:...30 vs. UCF (Nov. 15, 2007) Total Attempts:...65 at Southeast Missouri (Sept. 26, 2007) Assists:...3, three times, last vs. Tulsa (Oct. 13, 2006) Service Aces:...6 vs. Kent State (Aug. 25, 2006) Digs:...25 at Eastern Illinois (Aug. 31, 2007) Total Blocks: at Tulane (Oct. 29, 2006) Block Solos:... 1, 10 times, last vs. Marshall (Nov. 11, 2007) Block Assists:... 4, four times, last at UTEP (Sept. 21, 2007) 2008 MEMPHIS VOLLEYBALL MEDIA GUIDE 33

6 2007 STATISTICS 2007 Memphis Volleyball Memphis Combined Team Statistics (FINAL) All matches RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL ALL MATCHES CONFERENCE NON-CONFERENCE ATTACK SET SERVE DIG BLOCKING ## STATS SUMMARY G K K/G E TA Pct A A/G SA SE SA/G RE DIG D/G BS BA Total B/G BE BHE Points 8 BURTON, Shelby LIFORD, Ashley STRICKLAND, Rebekah BURY, Sarah BACH, Christine LABRUM, Kelsey COTE, Laura THOMPSON, Lauren UNDERWOOD, Emily THEARD, Rachel INGLISH, Katlin CHAMBERS, Sarah SHAFFER, Becky GORMAN, Gresh TEAM 22 MEMPHIS Opponents TEAM STATISTICS MEM OPP ATTACK Kills Errors Total Attacks Attack Pct Kills/Game SET Assists Assists/Game SERVE Aces Errors Attempts Serve Pct Aces/Game SERVE RECEPTIONS Errors Errors/Game Attempts Reception Pct DEFENSE Digs Digs/Game BLOCKING Block Solo Block Assist Total Blocks Blocks Per Game Block Errors BALL HANDLING ERRORS ATTENDANCE Total Dates/Avg Per Date... 16/ /364 Neutral site #/Avg... 7/84... Current win streak Home win streak DATE OPPONENT W/L SCORE SCORE-BY-GAME ATTEND! Aug. 24, 2007 at #26 Louisville L ,30-28,28-30, ! Aug. 25, 2007 vs Tennessee Tech L ,28-30,30-26, ! Aug. 25, 2007 vs Coastal Carolina W ,30-21, % Aug. 31, 2007 at Eastern Illinois L ,27-30,28-30,30-15, % Aug. 31, 2007 vs Loyola (Chicago) W ,30-18, % Sep. 1, 2007 vs Indiana State W ,30-16, % Sep. 1, 2007 vs Iona College W ,30-19, $ Sep. 7, 2007 NICHOLLS STATE W ,30-28, $ Sep. 7, 2007 AUSTIN PEAY W ,30-21, $ Sep. 8, 2007 UALR L ,35-37,30-19, $ Sep. 8, 2007 MISSISSIPPI STATE W ,30-18,29-31,30-20, * Sep. 13, 2007 UAB W ,30-18, & Sep. 14, 2007 STETSON W ,30-20, & Sep. 15, 2007 LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE W ,30-24, & Sep. 15, 2007 ARKANSAS STATE W ,30-20, * Sep. 21, 2007 at UTEP W ,30-24, * Sep. 23, 2007 TULANE L ,22-30,30-26, Sep. 26, 2007 at Southeast Missouri L ,18-30,30-20,26-30, * Sep. 30, 2007 at UAB L ,19-30, Oct. 2, 2007 at Central Arkansas W ,30-23,18-30, * Oct. 5, 2007 SOUTHERN MISS W ,30-21,25-30, * Oct. 7, 2007 UCF W ,30-26, * Oct. 12, 2007 at East Carolina W ,30-24,20-30,30-28, * Oct. 14, 2007 at Marshall L ,30-25,23-30,25-30, * Oct. 19, 2007 RICE W ,30-23, * Oct. 21, 2007 HOUSTON W ,30-23,25-30, Oct. 23, 2007 OLE MISS L ,23-30,30-23, * Oct. 26, 2007 at Southern Miss W ,30-22, * Oct. 28, 2007 at UCF W ,30-18,30-23,26-30, * Nov. 2, 2007 at SMU Mustangs W ,25-30,30-22, * Nov. 4, 2007 at Tulsa L ,17-30,30-23, * Nov. 9, 2007 EAST CAROLINA W ,30-27, * Nov. 11, 2007 MARSHALL L ,19-30, ^ Nov. 15, 2007 vs #12 UCF W ,30-24,30-26, ^ Nov. 16, 2007 vs #4 Tulsa L ,24-30, ! - Louisville Invitational (Louisville, Ky.) % - EIU-Pepsi Challenge (Charleston, Ill.) $ - Memphis Invitational (Memphis, Tenn.) & - Tiger Invitational (Memphis, Tenn.) ^ - Conference USA Championship (Huntington, W. Va.) * - Conference USA match MEMPHIS VOLLEYBALL MEDIA GUIDE