Tulane University
at UNO
Volleyball Completes Sweep Of UNO In Dramatic Fashion
Oct 14, 2003 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2003
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The score may have been 3-0 in favor of the Green Wave, but it was anything but easy as the Tulane University volleyball team completed the season sweep of cross town foe UNO Tuesday night at The Lakefront Arena.
The pesky Privateers game Tulane everything they could handle, plus some. But despite playing extended games in the first and third contests and facing game point on two occasions, the Green Wave were able to hang on and take the match 32-30, 30-25, 35-33.
"We're lucky to be coming out of this with a win," head coach Betsy Becker said. "We had to fight for everything we got tonight. We have tenacity and some success under out belt, so we were all able to make eye contact with each other and be able to pull it out in the end. In rally scoring, everything is going to be tight. Close matches have become the norm.
"Give credit to UNO. They played hard and they played well. This is a huge rivalry, and I don't think we were ready for that at the beginning. We played better down the stretch and that was the difference in tonight's win."
With the win, Tulane runs its current winning streak to 11 and improves to 18-2 on the year. The victory also keeps the Green Wave undefeated against teams from the state (6-0) with victories over Nicholls State (3-2, Aug. 29), LSU (3-1, Sept. 5), UNO (3-0, Sept. 6), Louisiana-Lafayette (3-0, Sept. 9) and Louisiana Tech (3-0, Sept. 20). UNO, meanwhile, falls to 8-13.
After taking the first two games, Tulane could not fend of the Privateers as neither team could take control of game three throughout most of the match. Tulane's three-point lead at 9-6 was the largest advantage until the Green Wave staked claim to a four-point lead at 28-24.
From there, though, UNO turned up the heat and rattled off a 5-1 run to tie the game at 29-all. Four points later, UNO held game point at 32-31, but Tulane was able to hold on, force match point four points later, and put the game away on a hammered spike by junior middle blocker Deva Fowler.
Fowler led the way for the Green Wave with a match-best 16 kills while junior outside hitters Lindsey Norman and Anastasia Kenon each tallied 13. Senior libero Karlyn Daly paced the Tulane defense with 21 digs, while Kenon posted 16 and both Norman and sophomore setter Kelli Dickson had 10 each.
"Karlyn played tremendous defense and Norman was our bread and butter tonight," Becker said. "They really saved us tonight."
At the net, Tulane posted 11 team blocks to UNO's nine, and Fowler once again led the team with seven.
The Green Wave got off to a rough start in game one, falling behind 11-3 before settling down to tie the game at 16-all. UNO would not give up the lead, however, reclaiming an advantage at 24-21. Tulane came back to tie the score at 25-all, traded the next six points and fended off game point at 29-28 Privateers. From there, the Green Wave went on a 3-0 rally to end the stanza and take the game, 32-30.
The momentum of the game-one win carried over the early portion of the second stanza as Tulane rolled out to a 10-4 lead. The six-point advantage remained at 18-12, but the Privateers refused to go away quietly and battled back to cut the lead to two at 21-19. UNO kept fighting and kept the score within two or three over the next 10 points, but with Tulane leading 26-24, the Green Wave were able to finally put UNO away with a 4-1 rally to end the game and claim a 30-25 victory.
Jennifer Cruz led UNO with 15 kills, and Christine Zimmer was one back with 14. Anais Urdaz paced the Privateer defense with 15 digs, and Amanda Meyers tallied a team-best five blocks.
Tulane returns to the friendly confines of Fogelman Arena this weekend for C-USA matchups with Marquette and DePaul on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Both matches are slated to start at 7 p.m. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.
