Volleyball Has Event-Filled Weekend Scheduled At Fogelman Arena
Nov 11, 2004 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2004
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University volleyball team has an action-packed weekend scheduled as the Green Wave close out the Conference USA regular season with contests against league foes UAB and USF at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
In addition to the two league matches, Tulane will host Parent's Night on Friday and host the first Alumni Night on Saturday. The USF contest will also be the Green Wave's "Dig For The Cure" match as Tulane joins forces with the other C-USA schools in raising money for breast cancer.
"This will be an exciting weekend for us," head coach Betsy Becker said. "First and foremost, we will be looking to maintain the momentum of Tuesday's win over Jackson State through to next week's conference tournament in Louisville. UAB and USF are both very good teams and we will have to play with the intensity and focus that we are capable of playing.
"Secondly, it will be an eventful weekend with Parent's Night on Friday, and both Senior Night and `Dig For The Cure' happening on Saturday. We always enjoy having the parents of the players get together for a weekend, and it will be fun to have the former volleyball players get together at Fogelman."
"Dig For The Cure" was started this season by Charlotte head coach Lisa Martson, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor, with a goal of raising $42,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Each C-USA school has designated one match in either October or November for "Dig For The Cure." Individual sponsors can pledge money per dig earned by the team in that match, as well as provide flat donation.
The money will go directly to the Komen Foundation in each respective local community. Anyone interested in making a pledge for Saturday's DFTC match, please contact Steve Walsh in the Tulane Athletics Marketing Office at (504) 862-8443 or e-mail him at swalsh1@tulane.edu. For more information on the Komen Foundation, visit their website at www.komen.org.
The Green Wave enter the match already a lock for next weeks C-USA Tournament, standing 14-9 on the year and 4-7 in league action. As a team, Tulane is averaging 15.56 kills, 17.11 digs and 2.60 blocks per game. Through 23 matches, Tulane is hitting at a .224 clip (1,260 kills, 535 errors, 3,279 attempts) while holding opponents to a .169 mark (1,131-574-3,302).
Tulane is led offensively by the senior trio of Anastasia Kenon, Deva Fowler and Lindsey Norman, with kill-per-game averages of 3.96, 3.71 and 3.12, respectively. Fowler paces the front-line defense with 1.40 blocks per game, and junior libero Kelli Dickson leads the back-row effort with 4.39 digs per outing.
UAB, which has already been eliminated from postseason play, enters Friday night's match 1-22 on the year, 0-11 in C-USA play, and averaging 11.81 kills, 13.28 digs and 1.95 blocks per game. The Blazers are hitting .098 for the year (874-587-2,932) and has allowed opponents to connect at a .260 clip (1,171-445-2,790).
Isabel Oquendo leads UAB with 2.63 kills per game, and Cassi Ociesa is second on the squad with 2.22 per stanza. Defensivley, Ociesa paces the Blazers with 1.29 blocks per game, while Brianna Galvin leads the back-line defense with 4.20 digs per contest.
USF, meanwhile, enters the weekend in a similar situation as the Green Wave. Already a lock for the C-USA Tournament, the Bulls will no doubt be looking to improve on an 8-16 overall mark and a 5-6 league record to gain ground in the league standings and subsequent postseason seedings.
The squad from Tampa, Fla., averages 14.58 kills, 15.43 digs and 1.66 blocks per outing, and is hitting at a .169 rate (1,210-642-1,121) while allowing foes to tally a .240 attack percentage (1,275-490-3,271). Flavia Silveira leads the Bulls with 4.26 kills per game, and Michelle Stalbaum is next with a 3.05 average. Kristina Fabris leads the front-line defense with 0.69 blocks per game, and Ashley Reavis paces the back-line defense with 2.95 digs per outing.
Fans that cannot be in Fogelman Arena over the weekend can follow all the action live via GameTracker at the official website of Tulane Atletics, www.tulanegreenwave.com. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.
