Tulane University
at Charlotte*
Volleyball Overcomes Slow Start To Defeat Charlotte 3-1
Nov 1, 2002 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 1, 2002
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Green Wave got off to a slow start but were able to shake the doldrums as the Tulane University volleyball team defeated Conference USA foe Charlotte 3-1 in a key road match at Halton Arena.
Tulane dropped the first game, 30-22, but battled back to win the next three stanzas 32-30, 30-28, 30-24 to improve to 16-13 on the year and 5-4 in C-USA play. Charlotte, meanwhile, falls to 13-12 overall and 4-4 in league action. On the stat sheet, the Green Wave trailed in nearly every statistical category, but the difference was in attack percentage where Tulane out-hit the 49ers .251 (65 kills, 22 errors, 171 attacks) to .216 (73-31-194).
"Our sheer athleticism prevailed tonight," head coach Betsy Becker said. "We were slow as molasses early, but between games one and two, our team pulled together and made a move at being more aggressive.
"Overall, our athleticism took over and we had more firepower than they did. Any time you have five attackers being effective, you're going to create havoc for your opponent, and we proved that this evening. We have to continue to get better, eliminate the slow start and we can be in contention for a great season."
Senior outside hitter Britney Hurst had a match-high 29 kills and junior right-side hitter Lauren Jones-McClain tallied 19 digs to key the victory. Middle blockers Deva Fowler and Kim Swafford each tallied 11 kills, and sophomore outside hitter Anastasia Kenon came off the bench to collect seven kills.
Freshman setter Kelly Dickson tallied a double-double with 34 assists and 13 digs, and Karlyn Daly finished third on the squad with 10 digs. At the net, Fowler had four blocks, including two solo blocks, while Hurst had three and Swafford tallied two.
The two teams traded points early in game one, but with the 49ers holding a 5-4 lead, Charlotte went on runs of 7-2 and 6-0 to take a commanding 19-7 advantage. Tulane would not go away and chipped the lead down to six on two occasions, but the mid-game run proved to be the difference as the 49ers took the opening stanza 30-22.
Tulane got off to a hot start in the second game, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. Charlotte would come back to tie the score at 16-all and take the lead one point later, but the Green Wave answered with a 4-0 lead to take a 20-17 advantage. Trailing 27-25, Charlotte went on a 4-0 run to take a 29-27, but Tulane was able to stave off a pair of game-point opportunities and took the lead at 30-29. The 49ers would side out to tie it up at 30-all, but the Green Wave got a kill from Swafford and a block by Fowler to tie the match at a game a piece.
Game three was a slugfest as the two teams traded point for point throughout the stanza and the biggest lead of the frame was three points. As the teams exchanged points, it would be the Green Wave that would make the pivotal push. Trailing 25-24, Tulane scored four straight points to take a 28-25 lead. Charlotte tied things up at 28-all, but the Green Wave were able to push through the tape and take the game 30-28.
Like the previous frame, game four began as a back-and-forth contest as the two teams traded the first 18 points. But with the score knotted at 9-9, the Green Wave scored five straight points to key an 11-2 run as Tulane appeared to have control of the match with a 20-11 lead. Charlotte, however, had other ideas as the 49ers stormed back into the game with a 11-3 rally of their own to cut the lead to one at 23-22. That was as close as the Green Wave would let them get, though, as Tulane was able to regain control of the stanza and push through for a 30-24 win.
Courtney Burg had 20 kills to lead the Charlotte attack while Abbey Szlanfucht had 14 and Katie Hall had 12. Burg paced the 49er defense with 17 digs while Danielle Miller and Laura Darnell each had 16.
The Green Wave returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Greenville, N.C., to take on C-USA foe East Carolina at 6 p.m.
