Big Weekend For Volleyball Features Contests At SMU, Tulsa
Oct 29, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 29, 2009
NEW ORLEANS - Playing a full season of any sport in college athletics can best be described as the running of a marathon where a solid overall performance from start to finish mixed in with several key sprints can help you get to the finish line first.
While the finish line is still a few weeks away for the 2009 Tulane University volleyball team, the Green Wave find themselves in the midst of the stretch run as they take on Conference USA foes SMU and Tulsa on the road on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Tulane enters the weekend 14-6 overall and tied for first place in the league standing with Southern Miss at 9-2 in C-USA play. The Green Wave's two weekend opponents, meanwhile, are right there in the mix as SMU is 7-3 in league action while Tulsa is 8-2.
In addition, Tulane will play host to Rice and Houston next weekend in Fogelman Arena. With a solid performance over the next four matches, the Green Wave can put themselves in position to successfully defend the C-USA title they earned a year ago after finishing the 2008 season with a 15-1 league record.
"The next two weekends, we play the toughest opponents in the conference," first-year Tulane head volleyball coach Sinisa Momic said. "I'm not too sure how good it is to play the bottom half of the conference to go into that, so we're going to have to step it up in practices and our preparation for SMU and Tulsa.
"They are probably playing the best volleyball of anyone in the conference right now and we'll play them back to back. Then after that we have Houston, who we lost to, and we play Rice, who we beat in three but they were all two-point differences. We've got a tough two weeks ahead of us and we have a lot of work to do."
Tulane heads to Dallas with a five-match winning streak - each of the wins coming in the 3-0 variety - and have a five-set win (23-25, 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 15-12) over SMU on Sept. 27 featured prominently on its resume.
As a team, the Green Wave are averaging 13.45 kills, 12.46 assists, 14.97 digs and 1.96 blocks per set. Sophomore outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic leads the squad with 4.25 kills per set, while senior setter Rachel Lindelow has a team-best 10.80 assist-per-set average. Senior libero Jenn Miller paces the club with 3.91 digs per contest and junior middle blocker Lindsey Shepard headlines the team with 1.01 blocks per outing.
Tulane is hitting .229 (1022-397-2735) on the season while allowing opponents to attack at a .187 clip (905-409-2657). Green Wave opponents, meanwhile, are averaging 11.91 kills, 11.17 assists, 15.39 digs and 2.28 blocks per set so far in 2009.
SMU has won a school-record 11-straight home matches at Moody Coliseum and are 17-7 on the year. Like Tulane, the Mustangs enter the match with a head of steam after winning seven of their last eight contests, including four consecutive wins over UAB (3-0), Memphis (3-0), Rice (3-2) and Houston (3-0).
As a team, the Mustangs are averaging 12.73 kills, 11.60 assists, 16.53 digs and 2.45 blocks per set. Dana Powell paces SMU with 3.82 kills per set while Kelli Becerra averages 10.36 assists per stanza. Sidney Stewart leads the team with 4.62 digs per set and Kendra Kahanek headlines the front-row defense with 1.15 blocks per set.
SMU is hitting .203 (1209-491-3541) for the year while allowing its opponents to connect at a .174 clip (1231-595-3647). Mustang opponents are averaging 12.96 kills, 12.18 assists, 17.13 digs and 1.83 blocks per set.
Tulsa, which will play UTEP on Friday, enters the week 19-5 overall and the Golden Hurricane have won nine straight contests dating back to a five-set loss at UTEP on Sept. 27 - two days after their 25-23, 25-23, 26-24 loss to the Green Wave.
As a team, the Hurricane are averaging 14.08 kills, 13.09 assists, 15.91 digs and 2.12 blocks per set. Tyler Henderson paces Tulsa with 4.15 kills per set while the tandem of Rachel Vukson and Jordan Clampitt combine to average 111.87 assists per stanza. Jessica Adams leads the team with 5.10 digs per set and Julia Kenealy headlines the front-row defense with 1.10 blocks per set.
Tulsa is hitting .275 (1211-396-2967) for the year while allowing its opponents to connect at a .147 clip (998-542-3102). Golden Hurricane opponents, meanwhile, are averaging 11.60 kills, 10.80 assists, 13.60 digs and 1.89 blocks per set.
Since the Mustangs and Golden Hurricane joined C-USA for the 2005 season, Tulane is a combined 14-5 against this week's opponents. Both teams swept a pair of matches from Tulane during the 2005 regular season, but Tulane exacted a bit of revenge against Tulsa in that year's C-USA Tournament with a 3-2 win in the quarterfinals. Since then, Tulane has won seven straight against SMU and is 6-1 against the Golden Hurricane.
Following the road weekend, Tulane returns home to Fogelman Arena where the Green Wave will take on Rice and Houston on Nov. 6 and 8, respectively. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE.
