Volleyball Looks To Get Back On Track Wednesday At UNO
Oct 29, 2002 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 29, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University volleyball team will have extra incentive to perform well Wednesday night when they make the trek across town to take on the UNO Privateers at 7 p.m. at the Lakefront Arena.
Not only will the Green Wave be playing for city bragging rights, but they will also be looking to snap a three-match losing skid and gain some positive momentum heading into the weekend where Tulane will travel to Conference USA schools Charlotte and East Carolina on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
"Last week was tough for us," head coach Betsy Becker said. "We dropped three matches, but we really did play well over the weekend against Cincinnati and Louisville. We were able to take games from them. Now, we've got to focus on taking matches.
"Playing UNO is always fun and exciting because of the rivalry between the two schools. Both teams get up for the game and play their best against each other. Hopefully, we'll be able to play our best, and if we do that, wins will take care of themselves."
Tulane goes into Wednesday's match 14-13 on the year. As a team, the Green Wave are hitting .216 with 1,483 kills and 641 errors in 3,892 attempts. The Tulane defense, meanwhile, is holding foes to a .186 attack percentage with 1,392 kills and 674 errors in 3,856 swings.
Senior outside hitter Britney Hurst paces the Green Wave offense with a 5.36 kills-per-game average and is second on the squad with 3.51 digs per game. Junior libero Karlyn Daly leads the defense with 3.66 digs per game.
At the net, sophomore middle blocker Deva Fowler averages a team-best 1.14 blocks per game, while junior middle Kim Swafford is close behind with a 1.05 average. Fowler ranks second on the team in kills with 2.96 per game, and sophomore outside hitter Anastasia Kenon is next with a 2.42 average.
Freshman setter Kelli Dickson is the Green Wave's floor leader and is averaging 10.04 assists per game. Since taking over as the starting setter against UNO back on Sept. 6, Dickson is averaging 11.71 assists per game while chipping in with 47 kills, 180 digs and 18 blocks.
Tulane holds a 55-23 advantage in the all-time series record that dates back to the first year of Green Wave volleyball in 1975 In fact, the very first varsity game in Tulane history was a two-game win over the Privateers, 15-2, 15-4. More recently, the Green Wave has won the last two meetings between the two clubs, including a three-game sweep in the 2002 NOKIA Sugar Bowl Classic.
With a win on Wednesday, Tulane can claim its first season sweep of UNO since 1999. In each of the past two seasons, the two teams have split the home-and-home series.
