Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Memphis
Volleyball Thunders Past Memphis, 3-1
9/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 26, 2008
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall University's Kristin Marcum (Arlington, Texas) recorded a match-high 23 digs, and Elizabeth Herman (Dunwoody, Ga.) collected a match-best 15 kills to help pace the Thundering Herd to a 3-1 (25-10, 21-25, 25-21, 25-13) victory over Memphis, in Friday evening's Conference USA volleyball contest at the Cam Henderson Center.
With the win, Marshall improves to 8-4 overall, 1-1 in conference action, while Memphis slips to 10-5 overall, 1-1 in league play.
"I thought we did a great job sticking with our game plan," head coach Mitch Jacobs said. "My favorite set was set three. We could have played a little bit better defense, but at least we tightened the defense up and made a couple of great plays in the late teens, early twenties and got a couple of points. That's one of the first sets where it's a sideout, sideout, sideout set, and then we broke through, rather than the other team breaking through, so I loved that."
Leading 2-1 in the match, Marshall posted an early 14-6 lead and finished the fourth set scoring nine of the next 16 points to take the match 3-1. Emily Sullivan (Cincinnati, Ohio) came alive with five kills on seven attempts (.714 hitting clip), while Marcum blasted four of her seven total kills in the final frame to lead the Herd.
"Of course the blowout sets are great," Jacobs added. "Whenever you blow someone out in a 25-point set, some of it has to be credited to them not playing at their level, and Memphis certainly didn't play to their level at times. I thought we had something to do with it in stretches, but at the same time you have to take what you're given."
Marshall surged to a quick 10-2 lead in the opening stanza on the strength of five kills from Herman. Marshall extended its lead to 23-10 before a Tigers service error and an assisted block from Herman Cameron Yoho (Sisterville, W.Va.) sealed the set for Marshall. Herman belted seven kills in the frame, while Jalicia Ross (Bank Village, Trinidad) added three. Marcum displayed impressive defensive skills as she picked up 12 of her 23 digs in the opening set.
Set two saw Memphis take an early 10-4 lead. From there Marshall would close the gap to one point four times, before the Tigers extended its cushion to 21-18. A Sullivan kill and a Memphis service error cut the deficit to one at 22-21, but the Herd could not even the set, as the Tigers used three straight Marshall errors to take the set and knot the match at one set apiece.
With the match even at 1-1, Memphis kept a steady two-point advantage before Marshall knotted the set at 16-16. From there, a kill by Ross, and a bad set and attacking error by the Tigers gave Marshall a 19-16 lead. Carolyn Baker and Lauren Thompson brought Memphis to within one at 19-18, but Ross delivered a pair of kills to give the Herd a three-point edge at 22-18. Memphis used a 3-1 run to get within two at 23-21, but Kehl and Sullivan were able to preserve the set three victory with a kill apiece.
Sullivan finished with 13 kills and hit .476 for the match (13K, 3E, 21TA) while Ross chipped in 11 kills on 18 swings for a .389 hitting percentage. Yoho delivered four assisted blocks in addition to two kills.
"Strickland is really tough to handle. She is just a tough kid, she hit some different angles, she approaches differently, I was pretty impressed that we were able to hang in there on her. She still hit .300, but she wasn't early, and later we got her. She just went off on us in the middle two sets," Jacobs stated. "Our outsides didn't hit for a high percentage either, that's just the kind of match it was. You factor in the way Emily and Jalicia played and our percentage jumps. We're killing balls at about a 40-percent rate, and that's pretty good. The problem is we're having errors at about a 15-17-percent rate so if we can just tighten those errors back a little bit, then we become pretty formidable, and we play defense, especially on the floor tonight, better than we've played."
Jessica Dhoore (LaPorte, Ind.) and Elizabeth Fleming (South Bend, Ind.) dug eight balls apiece for Marshall, while Fleming handed out 42 assists on the night.
Kaitlin Inglish led the way for Memphis, registering 10 kills, while Laura Cote added 30 assists. Christine Bach totaled 12 digs in the matcc, and Rebekah Strickland pitched in eight kills on 20 swings for a .300 hitting clip.
The Herd returns to conference action, Sunday, Sept. 28, when it hosts UAB. Match-time is 1:00 p.m. at the Henderson Center. Sunday's match can be heard live on WMUL 88.1.
