MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Despite a valiant effort that extended Saturday's match to five sets, the Memphis Tigers (1-1, 0-0) came up just short in the fifth and decisive set to Southern Illinois (1-1, 0-0). The win for the Salukis earned them a split in the opening weekend pair of matches against the Tigers.
"SIU is certainly a good opponent with a great coaching staff that made adjustments," said head coach Sean Burdette. "We got a little tentative at times and they thrived on that. They were able to do some things offensively tonight that we were able to slow down defensively last night."
The Tigers built off of last night's victory with an opening set win, but Southern Illinois eked out second and third set victories. SIU won the match 22-25, 27-25, 25-23, 20-25, and 15-13. Memphis freshman Sam Drewry once again led both teams in kills with 19, a night after she posted 20 kills in her Memphis debut. Likewise, freshman Bailey Houlihan led all players in digs (29) for the second straight match.
"At the end of the day, we go to five sets and it was a great learning experience for our team," said Burdette. "I told them in the locker room that I saw some plays this weekend that I haven't seen from them before, and they're all signs of good things to come. We won nearly every statistical category tonight, they just made the right plays at the right time."
First Set
- Sam Drewry opened up the night with the first of her match-high 19 kills
- Memphis held leads of 10-5 and 14-9, while the Salukis never got closer than three points
- Transfer Elizabeth Orf picked up a kill and ace in a span of four points, which put Memphis ahead 14-9
- The longest rally of the match came at 22-18 and ended in a perfect kill from Miaya Smith
- Smith followed with her fourth kill of the opening set, which gave Memphis the first set victory
- Drewry tallied five of her 19 kills in the opening set, while Sabrina Bianco recorded 15 of her career-high 61 assists
- The first set saw just two ties and zero lead changes, while the remaining four sets featured 36 and 22 respectively
Second Set
- Southern Illinois jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead on consecutive service aces from Alex Washington
- Gigi Crescenzo tied the set 4-4 with consecutive kills
- Memphis followed a 5-0 Salukis run with its own 4-0 run that tied the set 10-10
- The Tigers built a 20-15 lead, highlighted by multiple diving saves from Houlihan
- A 4-0 run from Southern Illinois pulled them within a point at 20-19
- Southern Illinois then erased a 23-20 lead with a 4-0 run that gave them set point at 24-23
- Drewry picked up a kill that tied the set 25-25, but Southern Illinois won the next two points, as a service ace from Katy Kluge wrapped up the set for SIU 27-25
- SIU won seven of the final nine points in the set
Third Set
- Southern Illinois picked up two quick points to start the set
- A block from Andrea O'Connor led to a Southern Illinois error and a 5-5 tie
- The Tigers won five of six points to take a 10-7 advantage
- Emma Baalman ended her team's 3-0 spurt with a service error, while a kill from Drewry made it 13-13
- Out of a timeout, a big point from Orf preceded another point on her serve, which tied the set 19-19
- The Tigers took a 21-19 edge as part of a 4-0 run, but SIU won three of the next four points
- A kill from Imani Hartfield set up set point for Southern Illinois, which won the set two points later, 25-23
- The set featured a match-high 14 ties and a match-high eight lead changes
Fourth Set
- Three straight kills for the Tigers, two from Crescenzo and one from Drewry, put Memphis ahead 6-5
- Bianco's no-look tip that just cleared the net earned her the kill and an 11-10 Memphis lead
- Consecutive kills from Crescenzo and Autumn Hamilton put Memphis ahead 16-13
- Crescenzo's 13th kill of the match gave the Tigers a 20-15 edge
- Consecutive kills from O'Connor earned the Tigers the final two points that won the set 25-20
Fifth Set
- A 3-0 lead from SIU forced Memphis to use an early timeout
- Drewry scored Memphis' first two points of the set, as Southern Illinois led 4-2
- A cross court kill from Crescenzo kickstarted a 5-0 run for the Tigers and gave them a 10-9 lead
- Another kill from Drewry tied the set at 11-11
- Drewry's final point of the night, her match-high 19th kill, caught the back line and pulled Memphis within one at 13-12
- The Salukis won the next two points and won the set 15-13, the match 3-2
Tigers Tidbits
- It was the first non-conference loss for Memphis since Sept. 21, 2019 (Southeast Missouri)
- Memphis had the same match leaders in kills (Drewry, 19), digs (Houlihan, 29), and assists (Bianco, 61) as the team did in the opening match on Friday
- The Tigers didn't record a block until the fourth set and lost blocks 9-3, one of the only statistical categories that Southern Illinois had the advantage
- Sabrina Bianco tallied a career-high 61 assists
- Kinkaid Padgett recorded a career-high 18 digs
- Gigi Crescenzo matched her career-high with 14 kills
- Elizabeth Orf made her Memphis debut, the sixth Tigers player to do so over the opening weekend
Up Next
Memphis will host Louisiana Tech next weekend. Friday night's matchup is at 7 p.m. while Saturday's is at 3 p.m., with both matches at the Larry O. Finch Center.
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Tigers Volleyball Drops Five-Set Battle with SIU - Memphis Official Athletic Site
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