Sept. 25, 2007

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Head Coach Carrie Yerty and her Memphis Tiger volleyball squad will take a break from Conference USA on Wed., Sept. 26, when they travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., to take on the Southeast Missouri Redhawks. First serve for the match is slated for 7 p.m. at SEMO's Houck Fieldhouse.

"This will be a good challenge for us," said Yerty. "SEMO is a strong team and it will be tough to go into their home arena and win. We will have to show up with our A-game to win."

At 12-5, Memphis has won six of its last seven, and 11 of its last 13 matches. Yerty's crew has thrived against non-league teams, holding a 10-4 mark. However, in two tries, the Tigers have yet to win a match on a non-conference opponent's home floor. Under the leadership of its two standout seniors, Shelby Burton and Ashley Liford, the UofM looks to reverse those fortunes on Wednesday. Memphis' all-time leader in attack percentage, Burton takes a .455 clip (first in C-USA and eighth in the nation) into the midweek tilt. She leads the team in kills (252), service aces (24) and blocks (88 total, 1.49 per game). Liford has stepped up her game in her final collegiate campaign and hits a strong .272 from the outside. One of the squads best all-around athletes, she leads the team with eight double-doubles and ranks second in hitting, kills (211) and digs (170).

SEMO is 6-8 on the year. But after a six-match losing skid, the Redhawks have rebounded to win three of the last four contests. Hitting just .158 as a team, the club is led by Aubrey Dondlinger's 168 kills. Dondlingers receives the majority of the sets, with a team-high 518 attempts. She is supported by a wave of attackers that have notched over 100 kills. Brittany Hastings has 151 kills, while Karleigh DeLong checks in with 145. Brenna Schrader leads the team in hitting, adding a .212 percentage to 127 kills. Schrader also paces the Redhawks with 18 aces.

Defensively, SEMO has been out dug and out blocked by its opponents. Schrader has a team-high 54 blocks, while Molly Davis anchors the backrow 271 digs.

Memphis holds a 10-3 lead in the all-time series versus SEMO. But the Redhawks got the best of the Tigers, cruising to an overpowering sweep, to win the Tiger Invitational in 2006. Sarah Bury led Memphis with a career-high 17 kills and Ashley Liford put away 10 balls. Côté finished the night with a match-best 37 assists, but the Tigers could only manage a .172 hitting percentage after hitting .000 in the first frame. Christen Clayton had 12 digs to lead a Memphis defense that gave up a .324 average.