Oct. 31, 1999
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis volleyball team (9-20, 2-11)
snapped an 11-game Conference USA losing streak with a 3-1 win over
South Florida (10-13, 5-7), Sunday.
South Florida ran out to an insurmountable 10-1 lead in game one.
Memphis battled back to 13-6, but the Bulls duo of Rachelle Paul and
Maryann Mooney blocked two Memphis attacks to close the first game,
15-6.
Memphis regrouped battled to 3-3 before the Bulls' Kelly Mathiasmeier
posted two service aces to help the Bulls' to a 6-3 lead. It looked like
the Bulls were going to close out the game at 11-4, when the Tigers
started stringing together points, pulling to 11-6 before Crissy Bush
downed one of her 16 kills to put the Bulls up 12-6.
The two teams sided each other out seven times before Tigers' setter
Jeannie Robison aced the Bulls to pull to 12-7. The score swung back and
forth until USF was up 13-9, when Robison and freshman Amanda Boatright
blocked a Lori Gribben attack for 13-10. The Tigers held USF at 13 and
finished game two, 15-13, when Robison found senior Rosie Glenn for one
of her 16 kills.
South Florida regrouped before game three and ran up a 9-4 lead before
Memphis again mounted a comeback. The Tigers scored nine points on
sophomore Sarah Wengler's serve, including three service aces, taking a
13-9 lead when USF finally sided Wengler out. Boatright downed a dug
ball at the net to finish game three with a 15-10 Tiger victory.
In game four it was the Bulls trying to mount a comeback, pulling to 5-4
before the Tigers pulled out to 7-4 on Boatright's serve. Memphis had
the lead at 10-5 when South Florida made a run of its own. The Bulls'
Paul downed one of her 15 kills to shorten the lead to 10-6, and Maryann
Mooney downed one of her 24 kills to make the score 10-7. The two teams
exchanged points, with the Bulls fighting off match point four times
before Memphis finished the game 15-12 on a Bulls' attack error.
Four Tigers finished with double digit kills. Glenn hit double digit
kills and digs for the third consecutive game with 16 kills and 15 digs.
Wengler also had 16 kills, while Boatright and Garrett added 14 kills
apiece. Junior April Harriman came up just short of the double-digit
mark with nine kills. The Tigers finish their home season, Thursday,
against UAB (Senior Night) at 7 p.m.
The Bulls were led by Mooney with 24 kills. Gribben had 19 kills while
Bush and Paul had 16 and 15 kills, respectively.
