CHARLOTTE, NC. - The Memphis Tigers (10-20) lost in straight sets to the Charlotte 49ers (17-10) to increase their losing streak to 9 in Charlotte Friday night.
The Tigers battled in a competitive first set exchanging leads with Memphis leading by as many as 3 in multiple moments throughout the set. Zaniah Hoskins, who had 8 kills in the game, had 4 in this set alone. The Tigers looked good but weren’t able to string together consistent offense, and this allowed Charlotte to stay in the game. After Charlotte turned a 21-20 Memphis lead into a tied game 21-21, the Tigers never saw the lead again, and Charlotte would finish the game 25-23 following an attack error from Genesis Rodriguez.
The second and third sets were not much like the first; the offensive production couldn’t keep up with the 49ers and the Tigers got out-killed 32-20 past the first set. Both sets had the same final score of 25-13. There were 6 lead changes and 10 ties in the first set, compared to a combined 4 ties and 1 lead change in the second and third set. the Tigers simply could not keep it competitive. Zaniah Hoskins led the team with her 8 kills, followed by Jasmyn Tate and Za'Niyah Boyles who had 7 and 8 kills respectively. It was a double digit dig night for Abigail Schlueter, who turned in a game-best 12 kills.
Memphis looks to win their last game of the season and hopefully finish the road trip with a second conference win of the year when they take on the Purple Pirates of Easter Carolina this Sunday at noon, and the game will be available to watch on ESPN+.
