The U of M women's volleyball hosted Tulane and Southern Miss in their final two home games of the season on Friday and Saturday, winning against the former and losing to the latter.
Junior outside hitters Altrese Hawkins and Marija Jovanovic combined for a total of 40 kills Friday night in a 3-1 (26-24; 19-25; 25-19; 25-21) victory over Tulane. Hawkins hit .439, her best percentage in any conference match this season, while Jovanovic hit a team high of .464. Earning her third straight double-double of the season, Hajnalke Molnar tabbed 55 assists and 13 digs. Freshman Aleksandra Petronijevic led the defense with a game-high 25 digs.
"I believe (Tulane was) a lot more fired up to come back and beat us this time rather than last time," Hawkins said. "They expected us to just roll over and let them beat us because we've played them several times in the spring, as well as last season, and they beat us. So, I think they just came in expecting to win."
Saturday, Memphis hosted the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in their final home game of the season at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Four Golden Eagles tallied double-digit kills as they rallied to defeat Memphis in three straight sets 3-1 (25-21; 19-25; 21-25; 23-25). In C-USA play, Memphis fell to 7-11, 17-13 overall, while Southern Miss improved to 15-14 (9-8 C-USA).
"They have a pretty consistent team," Jovanovic said. "They don't make a lot of mistakes; they are a team that keeps fighting. If we made a few mistakes, they kept building their game."
Hawkins and junior outside hitter Vesna Jelic both finished with double-doubles. Hawkins had 23 kills and 13 digs, while Jelic registered 13 kills and 13 digs. Marija Jovanovic added 12 kills and freshman middle blocker Lauren Hawkins downed eight. Molnar collected 54 assists and nine digs while Petronijievic had another match-high 18 digs.
The Tigers will take on the Marshall Thundering Herd on Friday at 6 p.m. and then travel to Greenville, N.C., for a 12 p.m. match on Sunday against the East Carolina Pirates. Memphis was beaten by Marshall and ECU at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse earlier this season.
"We've been practicing really hard this entire week," Hawkins said. "We just really need to go in, be focused, and finish out the season strong."
