Tulane University
New Orleans
Volleyball Defeats Cross-Town Rival UNO, 3-1
Oct 16, 2001 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 16, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Outside hitters Britney Hurst and Anastasia Kenon combined for 45 kills and 28 digs as the Tulane University volleyball team overcame a slow start to defeat intra-city rival UNO, 3-1, Tuesday evening at the Lakefront Arena.
Hurst, a junior, led all players with 25 kills and added 13 digs while Kenon, a redshirt-freshman, tallied 20 kills and 15 digs. Sophomore middle hitter Lauren Jones-McClain had a match-best 17 digs and chipped in four block assists as the Green Wave snapped a two-match losing streak and avenged a season-opening loss to the Privateers back on Aug. 31.
"It was good to see that our team finally put a match together," head coach Betsy Becker said. "Over this past weekend, we had moments of brilliance, but now we've learned to put the nails in the coffin. Give credit to UNO because they're extremely scrappy, and I felt that it was total dogfight throughout the night. It was battle, battle, battle the entire time, and I'm happy that we won the war."
With the win, Tulane improved to 13-7 as the Green Wave has now won seven of its last nine contest. UNO, meanwhile, fell to 5-11.
After dropping game one, 30-25, the Green Wave regrouped to win three straight games and improve their all-time record against UNO to 54-23. The win was especially sweet for Becker, who coached the Privateers to a 78-58 record from 1995-98.
"It's not as much of a personal thing anymore because the players I recruited are all gone," Becker said. "I think that it was more revenge tonight. We proved to UNO that we got better after two months of play. Being a cross-town team, it's always going to be an emotional match, but we all know that it's conference that really matters."
Defense was the difference for the Green Wave as Tulane tallied 13.5 blocks and held UNO to a .129 attack percentage. Freshman middle hitter Deva Fowler led all players with eight block assists, followed by Jones-McClain with five and Kenon with four. Five players tallied double digit dig totals, including sophomore outside hitter Karlyn Daly with 14 and freshman setter Katie Case with 10.
"Our outside hitters carried us on offense, but our defense won the match," Becker said. "Our passing game was erratic, but I think part of that was because UNO is a good serving team."
The Green Wave got off to a slow start in game one, falling behind 8-4 and 12-7. Tulane would fight back to tie the score at 15-15, and later 17-all, but UNO went on a 5-0 run to take a 22-18 lead. Tulane answered with a 4-0 run to tie the score, forcing the Privateers to call a timeout. After the break in action, however, UNO went on an 8-3 run to end the stanza and take game one 30-25.
Errors plagued both teams early on in game two as UNO capitalized on four Green Wave miscues to take a 7-4 lead. The Privateers would return the favor, though, and Tulane made the home team pay as the Green Wave turned six errors into a 14-9 lead. UNO cut the lead to 14-12, but Tulane responded with an 8-2 rally to retake control of the match and appeared be on their way to an easy win. The Privateers had other ideas, however, cutting the lead to 27-24. The Green Wave would regroup, though, and tie the match at one game a piece with a 30-26 victory.
The win, however, cost the Green Wave the services of senior middle hitter/right-side hitter Erin Dobyanski who injured her ankle midway through the stanza. So a young Tulane line-up got younger and the Green Wave were forced to play the rest of the contest without its four-year letterman and team co-captain. Dobyanski's status will be reevaluated later this week.
"Our team rallied around the loss of one of our captain," Becker said. "Britney took charge, as did Katie Case. Katie has to have the pulse of the team every point and she displayed that tonight. Sometimes you play better to overcome adversity, and we played harder for Erin because we know what she brings to this team."
Tulane was able to carry the momentum of their game-two win over into the third stanza as the Green Wave rolled out to a 14-7 lead. UNO called a timeout, but the break could not stop the red-hot Wave as Tulane went on a 6-2 rally to take a 20-9 advantage and force the Privateers to call their final timeout of the game. Tulane, however, would not be denied as the Green Wave went on a 10-4 rally to end the game and win the stanza 30-13.
Neither team could get control in the early stages of game four as the teams battle back and fourth. But with the score knotted at 8-all, UNO went on a 3-0 run to take an 11-8 lead. The Green Wave called timeout to regroup, but the UNO rally continued on for another two points before Tulane was able to regain the serve. Tulane cut the lead to one at 14-13 with a 4-0 rally, and later tied the score at 17. The Privateers scored a pair of points to retake the lead, and held a 22-19 advantage before Tulane called another timeout. The Green Wave answered their coach's challenge and went on a 5-1 run to take a 24-23 lead. UNO tied the score one point later, but Tulane went on a 6-3 run to end the game and win 30-27.
The Green Wave returns to action on Friday, Oct. 19 when Tulane takes on C-USA foe Marquette at 7 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. The contest against the Eagles is the first of a two-match "Parent's Weekend" schedule for the Green Wave as Tulane will battle league opponent DePaul on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m.
