It was a big weekend for head coach April Jauregui and the University of Memphis volleyball team.
Memphis notched two wins over the weekend to give Jauregui her 99th and 100th wins of her career.
The Tigers (12-5, 2-1 AAC) rallied back from a 2-0 deficit against Tulsa on Friday. Memphis faced match point in the third set, but they overcame the Golden Hurricanes’ attack to win the final set 15-11.
Jauregui’s 100th win came against SMU on Sunday. The Blue and Gray swept the 13-3 Mustangs at Elma Roane Fieldhouse in front 427 fans.
Jauregui said she could not be happier to finally reach the century mark.
“I’m thrilled,” she said. “I think it took a little longer to get to 100 than I anticipated, but I’m happy it was with this team. They’re phenomenal. They’ve given me their all every day and that’s all I can give them back.”
Memphis rode a total team effort to their first comeback win of the season against the Golden Hurricanes. Four different Tigers registered more than 10 kills in the match.
Senior libero Aleksandra Petronijevic, who holds the school record for career digs, played a phenomenal game against Tulsa. Her 37-dig effort earned her the American Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week.
Jauregui had high praise for Petronijevic after the game. Petronijevic sits inside the top-10 in the nation in total digs.
“It was part of our game plan to funnel the ball to Aleksandra,” the seventh-year coach said. “We have our best transition game when she can dig and there's a reason for that. She's one of the top liberos in the conference. She's the top libero in my book.”
Senior Lauren Wright garnered weekly honors as well. The American named her to its weekly Honor Roll.
Memphis picked up their second win of the weekend over a hot SMU squad. The Mustangs lost one of their best players to injury, but Memphis dominated the entire match, winning three sets to none.
Jauregui thought her team executed exceptionally well against its inner-conference rival.
“I thought we followed our game plan really well," Jauregui said. "It was unfortunate SMU had one of its best players go out. We took advantage of them being a little frazzled. We haven't beaten them in a couple of years and this is a great start for us to grab the momentum in the conference.”
The U of M grabbed an early lead behind strong play from Wright and Petronijevic. Junior Veronica Zimmerman got in on the action with 39 assists in the match.
Jauregui said she wanted to make sure the Tigers did not ease off the gas after taking a commanding lead.
“We stressed to our girls that you can't rely on making runs," Jauregui said. "They battled back, but our girls stayed composed and kept fighting. After what happened Friday, we knew it would help us today. We realized we couldn't just jump up 2-0 and let them back in it. I'm very happy for the girls, but we realize this is just one match and we have 16 more to go."
Memphis bolted out to a great start this season after going 15-17 a year ago. The improvement has been steady over the past few seasons under Jauregui, and the Blue and Gray are primed for a run at the AAC title.
The remainder of the season is heavy with American competition. The Tigers travel to Connecticut and Pennsylvania this weekend for matchups with UConn and Temple.
