Tulane University
Conference USA Tournament
Volleyball Falls To Marquette In C-USA Tournament
Nov 22, 2002 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 22, 2002
CHICAGO, Ill. - Senior outside hitter Britney Hurst had 20 kills and 12 digs, but it was not enough as the Tulane University volleyball team dropped a four-game match to Marquette in the first round of the 2002 Healthy Choice Conference USA Tournament at the DePaul Athletic Center.
Tulane won the opening stanza 30-28, but the Golden Eagles would go on to win the next three, 30-27, 30-19, 30-19, to snap the Green Wave's seven-match win streak. Tulane concludes the season 21-14.
"We ran into a buzzsaw tonight," head coach Betsy Becker said. "Marquette played extremely well and kept us off balance the whole time. This is disappointing, but it doesn't take away from a great season. We had the most wins since 1992, we overcame some injuries and we played well on the road.
The match marked the final contest for Hurst who concludes the 2002 season with 692 kills and 464 digs which are both Tulane single-season records.
"Britney had a great year and a great career, and her contributions to this program will be felt for years to come," Becker said. "On the bright side, though, we will return everyone else next year and we will be able to build on the success we've had in 2002."
Sophomore middle blocker Deva Fowler hit .323 for the match with 14 kills and posted a team-best five blocks in the loss. Junior libero Karlyn Daly also had a solid outing with a match-high 15 digs to lead three Green Wave players with double-digit dig totals.
Marquette hit .232 for the match with 66 kills and 27 errors in 168 attacks while holding the Green Wave to a .115 mark (51-33-157). The Golden Eagles also tallied 10.5 team blocks to advance to play Saint Louis in the quarterfinals.
Marquette jumped out to an early seven-point lead in game one as the Golden Eagles held a 14-7 advantage. The Green Wave would not go away, however, and went on a 12-5 run to tie the score at 19-all. The two teams traded the next 18 points, but with the score tied at 28-28, Tulane got a pair of kills from Fowler to take the stanza 30-28.
The Green Wave fell behind early again in game two, and like before, was able to come back and get the lead. Tulane led by as many as four at 19-15, but Marquette stormed back with a 7-2 run to tie the game at 22-all. After a Green Wave timeout, Tulane retook the lead at 26-24 but could not maintain the momentum as the Golden Eagles went on a 6-1 run to end the game and take the contest 30-27.
Game three was a back-and-forth contest early on as the two teams traded the first 12 points. But with the score tied at 6-all, Marquette went on a 4-0 run to take a 10-6 lead and never looked back. The lead grew to as many as 12 with the Golden Eagles ahead 23-11 before the Green Wave went on a 6-1 run to cut the advantage to seven at 24-17. The hole proved too big to climb out of, however, and Marquette went on to win 30-19.
The fourth game followed a similar script as the Golden Eagles soared out to an 11-4 lead. Tulane cut the lead to one at 15-14, but would score just five points the rest of the way as Marquette went on to clinch the match with a 30-19 victory.
Marquette's Theresa Coughlin led three Golden Eagles with double-digit kill totals with 17 while Shannon Devin had 15 and Erin Freer finished with 12. Freer paced Marquette with 15 digs.
