Tulane University
UAB
Freshmen Case, Fowler and Kenon Lead Volleyball Past UAB
Sep 22, 2001 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 22, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The freshmen trio of setter Katie Case (Naperville, Ill.), middle hitter Deva Fowler (San Diego, Calif.) and outside hitter Anastasia Kenon (San Antonio, Texas) combined to tally 31 kills, 38 assists, 19 digs and nine blocks to help lead the Tulane University volleyball team to a 3-0 win over UAB in Conference USA action Saturday night in Fogelman Arena.
Case recorded a double-double with 38 assists and 11 digs, while Kenon tallied a match-high 16 kills in the win. Fowler joined Kenon in the double-digit kills category with 12, while also tallying two solo blocks and four block assists. The win marked the Green Wave's first league victory as Tulane improved to 7-5 overall and 1-1 in C-USA action.
"The tremendous trio of Anastasia, Katie and Deva were outstanding tonight, especially Deva Fowler," head coach Betsy Becker said. "UAB had no answers for Deva tonight, and she answered the bell every time we called on her.
"We were a little vulnerable to tips this evening because we've gotten used to teams swinging hard at us, and give credit to UAB because they had a good game plan. But we were able to compensate by playing dominant volleyball, and I'm proud of our team's effort."
Even though Tulane won in three-straight games, the match was hardly an easy one for the Green Wave. UAB (6-4, 0-2) jumped out to a commanding 19-9 lead in game one, and had Tulane on the ropes as the Blazers held game point at 29-25. The Green Wave, however, refused to go away quietly and went on a 4-0 run to knot things up at 29-all. The two teams traded points for a while, but with the score tied at 32, the Green Wave went on a 3-1 run to pull off the come-from-behind, 35-22, win.
"I'm proud of our team for the way they pulled out the win in game one," Becker said. "Fighting back from a 29-25 deficit is a huge accomplishment, especially in rally scoring. That gave us the momentum through the rest of the match, and we were able to run through the tape."
Things got a little easier for the Wave the rest of the way, but the Blazers still gave Tulane all they could handle. Game two was a back-and-forth battle early on, but with the game knotted at 15-15, Tulane rattled off six straight points to get a comfortable lead, and went on to win the contest 30-24.
Game three followed a similar script as the two clubs traded points throughout the early goings. But with the score tied at 11, the Green Wave took the lead on an attack error by UAB and never looked back. The Blazers stayed within two points of the home team for a while, but Tulane pulled away at 25-20 and went on to win the match-deciding stanza, 30-25.
Four UAB players finished with double-digit kill totals as Martina Sheilds and Karen Boyd each tallied 12 kills, followed by Allison Magner and Shelly Greene with 10 a piece. Greene led the Blazer defense with 13 digs, followed closely by Boyd with 12.
The Green Wave returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 25, when Tulane plays host to C-USA rival Southern Miss in "Fill Fogelman" night at 7 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. Following Tuesday's showdown with the Golden Eagles, Tulane will close out a four-match home stand with contests against East Carolina on Sept. 28 and vs. Charlotte on Sept. 29.
