In this the final year of the current Conference USA , The University of Memphis women's volleyball team wants to make its mark.
"We're not the underdog anymore," said senior outside hitter Tiara Gilkey. "Now we're one of those big teams."
After a promising pre-conference season in which they posted the second best winning percentage in the league, the Tigers will begin conference play Friday when they host the St. Louis Billikens and co-player of the week Aida Antanviciute.
"Being 15-4 (so far) is a great confidence builder and it has given us an opportunity to play our entire team and gain experience for the younger kids that we definitely have used and will use," said head coach Carrie Yerty.
They'll need that experience to defeat St. Louis, which holds a 8-2 record over Yerty's Tigers since 1996.
The Billikens' historical success may be the only thing going for them; the Tigers have been playing exceptionally.
On an eight-game winning streak, the team has posted stellar numbers over the past two weeks, blowing out the competition 28-6.
During that stretch, members Tiara Gilkey and Heather Watts have won five of the nine awards given out to conference players.
Gilkey has already won C-USA Player of the Week twice and has been named MVP of the MSU/Microtel Classic. During the recent UNC-Greensboro Invitational, she posted a .446 hitting percentage and a team-high 86 kills.
Watts, a senior setter, has earned three of the first four Setter of the Week awards.
However, Watts did not expect the accolades.
"I was surprised," said Watts. "There are tons of good setters in our conference."
The fact is there are a lot of good teams in Conference USA, so improving on last season's fourth place finish could be a chore.
The Tigers finished with a 30-6 record last season, yet were picked to finish sixth this year in the coach's preseason poll.
Those 30 wins marked only the second time in conference history that a team has reached the mark, making the sixth-place preseason ranking more surprising.
"I don't think the coaches poll is indicative of conference placement top to bottom," said Yerty, who is entering her ninth year as coach of the Tigers. "Last year we were picked 13th (in the poll) and then we played for the conference championship."
The team that beat the Tigers in the championship last November - Louisville -is again the favorite to win it all.
The Cardinals, who are currently ranked 21st in the nation and led by first team All-conference Lena Ustymenko, hope to repeat as conference tournament champions this year, a feat that hasnÃt been duplicated in eight years.
UL also won a piece of the regular season title, sharing the honor with Cincinnati, a team with a disappointing pre-conference record of 6-6.
It's up to Gilkey and Watts to lead The U of M to the Conference USA promised land. The four years they have spent together playing Memphis volleyball will certainly give them an edge and the confidence to carry the team.
"We've always been a confident team," said Gilkey. "We always try to pick each other up at all times. We know each other well on the court."
Coach Yerty wants her players to not only know each other on the court but the importance of defending the court itself.
"I think it's critical that when you play at home you win your home matches, and you (break even) on the road if you're going to be one of the top teams in the conference.
"We've gotten better every time we've played, but I still don't think we've shown our best. We also understand that when conference starts your back at ground zero and everybody's fighting."
