Volleyball Completes Reverse Sweep of Memphis

Saturday, September 11

Cape Girardeau, MO

10:30 AM

Kansas City

8-1

Memphis

6-2

Memphis

Kansas City

Volleyball Completes Reverse Sweep of Memphis

9/11/2021 1:12:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

Kansas City was led by 20 kills from Melanie Brecka and a .500 hitting percentage from De'Janae Arnold

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - It took overcoming a slow start and their second five-set match in as many days, but Kansas City Volleyball completed a reverse sweep of Memphis to win 3-2 (17-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-12, 15-12). The win sends the Roos home with a perfect 3-0 record at the SEMO Invitational and moves them to 8-1 on the young season.

KEY MOMENTS

S1 | Memphis jumped out to a hot start in the first set, winning seven of the first eight points to take command.
S1 | The Roos attempted a comeback, drawing as near as two points, but another run by the Tigers gave them a 20-11 lead and put them in the drivers seat for a 1-0 lead.
S2 | Kansas City used a 4-0 run, capped by an ace from Melanie Brecka to jump out to an 8-4 lead in the second set.
S2 | A kill by De'Janae Arnold put an end to a four-point Memphis run and put the Roos back up by three.
S2 | A 9-2 Memphis run put the Tigers in control of the set and forced the Roos to burn both of their timeouts.
S3 | A hot start in the third set helped the Roos, gaining an 8-2 lead after a kill by Odyssey Warren.
S3 | The Roos strung together an 8-1 run on the serves of Leah Green and Peyton Van Nest to gain an 18-6 advantage in the set.
S3 | Memphis threatened a comeback, but a kill by Brecka and two-straight errors by the Tigers gave the Roos some breathing room.
S3 | KC forced a fourth set on a kill by Brecka.
S4 | After the Tigers took the first two points of the fourth, Kennedy Schritenthal sent across three-straight aces and the Roos took a 5-2 lead.
S4 | With the score tied at 7-7, Warren sent across a big kill, sparking a 10-0 Kansas City run on Green's serve.
S4 | The Roos ended the set on a 6-1 run to force a fifth and final set.
S5 | The teams traded points to begin the set, but a kill by Raina Smith stopped the trend and gave the Roos a 7-5 lead.
S5 | A kill by Smith, an ace by Alli Schomers and a kill by Brecka forced Memphis to use their second timeout and gave the Roos a 10-6 lead.
S5 | Kansas City completed the comeback, winning on Arnold's 16th kill of the day.

STATS TO NOTE

Brecka pieced together her fifth double-double of the year, finishing with a match-high 20 kills and adding 15 digs. Schomers joined the action with her second double-double of the season, dishing 52 assists and digging 16 attacks.
Reigning Summit League Defensive Player of the Week Maddie Renn showed why she earned that title, finishing with a team-high 22 digs. On the weekend, she averaged 4.8 digs per set.
The Roos' back line was active, with five players finishing with double-digit digs. Joining Renn, Brecka and Schomers were Green with 14 digs and Schritenthal with 13.
The Roos finished with 12 more kills than the Tigers and outhit Memphis .192-to-.126.
Kansas City sent across nine service aces in the final three sets to finish with a season-high mark of 11.

COACH CHRISTI POSEY, QUOTED

" A hard fought victory is always rewarding, especially against an athletic and gifted team. We didn't start the match with the same hungry attitude we've had in other matches and that was disappointing. However, we hung in there and kept battling and slowly built some momentum. Alli found Deja and Mel in transition. Maddie anchored our defensive effort again with 22 digs while Alli, Mel, Leah and Kennedy all contributed double digits digs."
"We were very pleased with another great tournament from Deja, who was named Tournament MVP, as well as Carly who hit .400. Alli and Maddie were recognized as All-Tournament for their efforts this weekend."
"We still have work to do but we've been pretty clean in 5th sets. It was satisfying because of going down 0-2 and battling back; that takes some moxie but we needed to be better in several areas in games one and two. We're still learning and getting better and I'm grateful for that."

UP NEXT
The Roos will ride their eight-match win streak to Lawrence, Kan. next weekend for matches against Kansas, Albany and Missouri State.