Volleyball To Open Season By Hosting Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic
Aug 30, 2001 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 30, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University volleyball team will open the 2001 season this weekend when the Green Wave hosts the 2001 Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic in newly renovated Fogelman Arena.
Joining the Green Wave in the tourney will be intra-city rival UNO and in-state foe LSU, along with Baylor and UNLV. Tulane will play UNO and LSU on Friday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. On Saturday, the Green Wave takes on UNLV at 3 p.m. before closing out the tournament against Baylor at 8 p.m.
"We're going to put our team to the test right away with four quality opponents," head coach Betsy Becker said. "We're young, but talented, and we'll see how we fare against some very good teams. It will test our ability to handle the rally scoring system since this is the first year the NCAA has gone to this sort of scoring, and we'll see where we measure up."
Leading the way for the Green Wave will be 2000 first-team All-Louisiana and second-team All-Conference USA honoree, Erin Dobyanski, and second-team All-Louisiana selection and team co-captain, Britney Hurst.
As a junior, Dobyanski tallied 329 kills, 287 digs and 24 service aces. Along the way, she set career highs in kills with 26 vs. Houston, attacks with 59 vs. Houston and digs with 20 vs. Southern Miss. Hurst, meanwhile, led Conference USA in blocks during the regular season and finished the year with 219 kills and 90 total blocks.
Dobyanski and Hurst are joined by a host of returning veterans, including three-year starting setter Jennifer Witte, as well as a host of talented newcomers. Headlining the list of new faces on the Green Wave squad are freshmen Katie Case, Deva Fowler, Iman Houston, Lindsey Norman and Masharika Prejean.
The Green Wave will be without the services of junior outside hitter Lindsey Bennet who will sit out the year with a medical redshirt, but Becker welcomes back to the court redshirt-freshman Anastasia Kenon who was forced to sit out all of last season after tearing her ACL in the very first practice. The Sugar Bowl Classic will also be a family reunion of sorts for Kenon as her sister, Tatiana, is a right-side hitter for Baylor, and her father, former NBA player Larry Kenon, is also expected to be on hand.
Another interesting sidebar to the tournament is the very first match of the Classic which pits Becker against her former team as the Green Wave takes on the Lady Privateers. Prior to taking over as head coach at Tulane in 1999, Becker coached UNO to a combined 78-58 record from 1995-98, including a 25-8 mark in 1997. Tulane is 3-1 against UNO under Becker, but the Lady Privateers won the last outing with a 15-12, 15-11, 15-13 victory on Oct. 31 at the Lakefront Arena.
"It's truly more than a competition when it comes to UNO," Becker said. "Even though we play them later on this year, this match is for bragging rights in the city. It's fun to play your cross-town rival, and we're looking forward to opening up the year with UNO."
The Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic is the first of two tournaments that Tulane hosts during the 2001 season as the Green Wave will play host to Coastal Carolina, Louisiana-Monroe, San Diego State and Southern Methodist in the Kathy Trosclair Memorial Invitational next weekend in Fogelman Arena.
