Tulane University
Memphis
Volleyball Survives Scare At Memphis, Downs Tigers 3-1
Oct 3, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 3, 2008
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - It was not always pretty, but for the Tulane University volleyball team, the result sure was sweet as the Green Wave survived a scare from Conference USA foe Memphis for a 3-1 victory Friday evening at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
Tulane won the opening stanza with relative ease, 25-14, and led the second set by six late in the contest. The Tigers roared back with a 15-7 rally the rest of the way to earn a 28-26 victory and gave the Wave a fight in each of the remaining sets. Tulane, however, was able to put it together when it needed to and sealed the deal with back-to-back 27-25 decisions.
The win was the ninth in a row for Tulane, which improves to 11-4 on the year and 3-0 in C-USA action. Memphis, meanwhile, falls to 11-6 overall and 2-2 in league play.
"It was a very interesting match and we made it much too interesting for my taste," Tulane head volleyball coach Liz Kritza said. "It was a tough match on the road and I thought we came out and proved that we could handle them pretty easily in set one. In the set two, we got an early lead, and then we sort of allowed them to build momentum.
"Volleyball is such a game of momentum and you cannot allow a team that you have an advantage over to believe that they can beat you. When you start making errors and allow them to build momentum, they will actually start playing better. That is what happened tonight."
Senior right-side hitter Bridget Wells was one of three Green Wave players to post double-digit kill totals and posted a match-best 17 kills. Senior outside hitter Sara Radosevic was next with 16 and freshman outside Visnja Djurdjevic was next with 12. Radosevic paced the Tulane defense with a season-best 21 digs.
The match, however, came down to one of the most unusual plays. After trailing most of the fourth set, Tulane held match point at 26-25. Following a serve by Radosevic, Memphis controlled the ball and Rebeka Strickland hammered a spike to the left back of Tulane's side of the court. Senior setter Luna Rebrovic laid out to make the dig and her pass sailed over the net and beyond the Tiger defense just in front of the end line to provide the winning point.
Rebrovic posted a match-high 34 assists and was one of three Tulane players to post a double-double with 13 digs. Djurdjevic also tallied a double-double with 15 digs to go along with her kills total. Sophomore middle blocker Lindsey Shepard paced the Green Wave's front-row defense with seven block assists.
"It was a good test on the road for us," Kritza said. "This was a really tough environment to play in. They have a great fan section and it was a good, competitive environment. I am pleased that we pulled out a win.
"A win is still a win, but this team knows that this is not all that we focus on. We focus on our level of play. We focus on how we should be improving. Tonight, yes we escaped with a win, but we narrowly escaped. I did not even need to tell this team after the match that their level of play tonight was not acceptable and I look for them to rebound, come back and play a much better match on Sunday against a quality foe in UAB."
Memphis jumped out to an early 3-1 advantage in set No. 1, but Tulane used a 13-2 run to a commanding 14-5 advantage. The Tigers clawed back into the set and made it a four-point affair at 16-12, but the Green Wave responded to out-score Memphis 9-2 the rest of the way to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
It was a similar story in the beginning of the second set as the Wave rolled out to an 11-5 lead early on and held a 19-13 lead later in the stanza. Memphis, however, refused to go away and used an 11-5 run to knot the set at 24. Tulane held set point on three occasions but could not cash in, and the Tigers tied the match at one win apiece on a kill by Katlin Inglish.
The third set was a back-and-forth struggle, but with the score tied at 13-all, Memphis used a 4-1 rally to take a 17-14 lead and force the Green Wave to call a timeout. Following the break, Tulane rallied to tie the score at 18-all, but Memphis appeared to be in control of the stanza seven serves later at 23-20. From there, Tulane tied the match at 23-23 and twice staved off set point, capitalized on a Tiger attack error to set up set point and put the stanza away on a service ace by junior setter Rachel Lindelow.
The see-saw battle continued in the fourth set as the two teams essentially traded the first 24 points of the stanza. The Wave used a 3-0 run to create a little breathing room and led by as many as five at 20-15. Memphis refused to go away quietly and stormed back to make it a one-point affair at 23-22. Following a Tulane timeout, Memphis got back-to-back blocks to establish set point at 24-23. Tulane, however, battled back to set up match point on a kill by Wells and clinched the victory on Rebrovic's overpass.
"I think our kids can look back at the match and see they had opportunities to win, especially in sets three and four," Memphis head coach April Jauregui said. "But Tulane, on paper, is a fantastic team. They are the best team in our conference. For our kids to go out and have a chance to win, that is a positive for sure. If Tulane does not win the conference this year and go to the (NCAA) tournament...well, they should. For our team to play with them and show where they can be against a team in the Top 30, that is an exciting match."
Inglish led Memphis with 15 kills while Christine Bach paced the Tiger defense with 20 digs. Laura Cote tallied 30 assists for the Memphis cause while Carolyn Baker led the Tigers' front-line defense with one solo block and seven block assists.
The Green Wave return to action on Sunday, Oct. 5, when they take on C-USA foe UAB at 2 p.m. in Bartow Arena. Sunday's match at UAB will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports Network (channel 315 on Cox Digital Cable, channel 613 on DirecTV, channel 152 on Dish Network) and can also be viewed live on the internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com to paid members of the All-Access Pass.
Following Sunday's match, Tulane continues its four-match road swing on at Tulsa and SMU next Friday and Sunday, respectively, before returning home to Fogelman Arena on Tuesday, Oct. 14, when they play host to cross-town foe New Orleans at 7 p.m.. For ticket information to that match, as well as future Green Wave athletic events, contact the Tulane University Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE.
