Volleyball
The Tiger volleyball team is set to begin a seven-match homestand beginning this Saturday which could make or break its season after splitting two road matches this weekend against TCU and Houston.
Last Saturday, Memphis (12-3, 3-3 in Conference USA) was swept, 3-0, by Houston (7-8, 4-2) at Hofheinz Pavilion. The loss marked the Tigers’ second of the season against the Cougars, which have now won seven straight matches against Memphis.
Senior outside hitter Ginger Garrett led Memphis with 16 kills.
On Friday, the Lady Tigers defeated conference foe TCU, 3-1, by scores of 30-26, 30-20, 25-30 and 30-28, dropping the Horned Frogs to 5-11 overall and 2-4 in C-USA. Sophomore middle hitter Shella Neba paced the Tigers with 17 kills while posting a .371 hitting mark.
Memphis currently ranks seventh in C-USA with 10 conference games remaining. Only the conference’s eight best teams are eligible for the C-USA Tournament, which will be hosted by Houston Nov. 15-18.
Next up, Memphis faces both Southern Miss (7-9, 2-4) and Tulane (12-5, 5-1) during a double-header Saturday at Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
Women’s Soccer
The Lady Tiger soccer team lost its eighth game of the season Tuesday against Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn., dropping a 1-0 decision to the Golden Eagles.
After a scoreless first half, Memphis (3-8-1, 1-3) allowed Tech freshman Christi Lopez to score her second career game-winning goal at the 57:44 mark after she collected a deflected shot by Tiger keeper Katarina Wicksell.
Tiger junior forward Ali Baker led Memphis with seven shots, but was tagged with a red card in the second half.
Memphis, which is currently mired in its second three-game losing streak of the season, will host Southern Miss at 7 p.m. Friday at Echles Field.
Men’s Soccer
Led by senior forward Sean Fraser Tuesday, the Tigers won their third game in the last four, beating Belmont, 5-1, in Nashville.
Memphis (3-5-2, 1-2-1) got back-to-back goals over a two-minute span late in the first half from Fraser to help the Tigers cruise to victory. Fraser’s 33 career goals rank him fourth on Memphis’ all-time scoring list, just one shy of third-place scorer Donal McDonagh.
In addition to Fraser’s goals, Memphis got a goal each from Justin Dyer, Justin Stralka and Chris Schmidt to go with Ken Matsuba’s career-high three assists. The Tigers outshot the Bruins 25-6 for the game.
On Saturday, the Tigers dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to No. 4-ranked St. Louis after blowing a 2-1 lead in the second half.
St. Louis (8-0, 4-0) rallied behind goals from midfielder Brad Davis and forward Dipsy Selolwane to remain unbeaten on the season. Memphis was outshot 13-1 by the Billikens in the second half.
Fraser and fellow senior forward Lars Thorstensen each had a goal for Memphis, which next faces Marquette Sunday in Milwaukee, Wis.
Men’s/Women’s Cross Country
The men’s and women’s teams placed eighth and sixth respectively Saturday at the 27th Annual Saluki Invitational in Carbondale, Ill.
Indiana State took first-place honors in both the men’s and women’s competition, which was hosted by Southern Illinois University.
Southeast Missouri State, Texas-Corpus Christi, Western Illinois and Southern Illinois rounded out the top five in the women’s division while Southern Illinois, Murray State, Belmont and Eastern Illinois rounded out the top five in the men’s bracket.
Women’s Golf
The Lady Tigers finished 12th in the 2001 Franklin Street Trust/Lady Tar Heel Intercollegiate golf tourney held this weekend in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Memphis, which shot a three-day total of 963, was paced by sophomore Meaghan Francella’s 11th-place finish. Francella shot rounds of 76-76-76 during the 54-hole tourney, leading all Lady Tiger scorers.
Duke University won the event with a team score of 894, followed by North Carolina (911) and Vanderbilt (914). Duke’s Kristina Engstrom won the individual competition with a three-over-par 219.
Men’s Tennis
Tigers Michael LaHaie and Richard Magney advanced to the finals of the pre-qualifying stage of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men’s All-America Championships Saturday in Stone Mountain, Ga.
The event is one of three national collegiate tennis championships held during the 2001-02 school year.
LaHaie and Magney received a first-round bye Saturday before beating Haulos/Nurmi of St. Bonaventure in the second round and Jackson/Lockin of Michigan in the third round.
The pair lost, though, in the qualifying round to Nott/Schnugg of Georgia Tech.
Memphis lost two other first-round doubles matches and all six of its first-round singles matches.
