Volleyball Draws SMU in C-USA Tourney Opener
Nov 15, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 15, 2009
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane Green Wave will defend their title as the third seed in the 2009 Conference USA Volleyball Championship, and face sixth-seeded SMU on Friday at noon in the quarterfinals as Tulane looks for a second-straight C-USA title and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament as C-USA revealed the bracket for the eight-team championship at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Friday through Sunday.
"SMU is a quality team that we've beaten twice, but it's always tough to play the same team three times. It's going to be a tough matchup," said first-year head coach Sinisa Momic. "We understand we're going to need three quality performances in three matches if we want to win another championship. Our mental preparation is going to be the same no matter who we play. We have to take this one match at a time, because anyone in this conference can be dangerous. We've beaten them twice, but that doesn't mean anything. We can't think it's going to be easy."
Tulane finished the regular season at 12-4 in C-USA action, 17-8 overall, and will face the SMU Mustangs in the day's first match at noon Friday. Should the Green Wave advance, they would take on the winner of second-seeded Tulsa and seventh-seeded UAB, which will take place at approximately 2 p.m., following Tulane versus SMU.
SMU and Tulane met twice in the regular season, with the Green Wave taking both contests. The Wave earned a 3-2 win over the Mustangs at Fogelman Arena on Sept. 27, by scores of 23-25,25-21,25-19,21-25,15-12, and Tulane won in Dallas, 3-1 (18-25,25-20,25-20,26-24) on October 30.
Sophomore Visnja Djurdjevic racked up a career-high 29 kills and set a Tulane record with 36 digs in the meeting in Fogelman Arena. She also posted 14 kills with another 16 digs in the win in Dallas.
Tulane is 10-2 all-time against the Mustangs, and have won eight in a row dating back to 2005. The Green Wave and Mustangs have never met in the C-USA Tournament. The Green Wave are 13-13 all-time in the C-USA Tournament and are 3-1 in the quarterfinal round the last four seasons.
Last season, Tulane advanced to the finals with a 3-0 sweep of UCF, and a 3-2 comeback win over Houston in the semifinals. The Green Wave out-lasted UAB with a 3-2 win to clinch their first tournament championship and first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The Green Wave finished two games back of regular season champion and number one seed Southern Miss (26-4 overall, 14-2 C-USA). The Golden Eagles take on eighth-seeded Houston at 7 p.m., following the matchup between host Rice, the four-seed, and fifth-seeded Marshall at 5 p.m.
2009 Conference USA Championship
(Tudor Fieldhouse, host Rice University)
Friday, Nov. 20
Match 1 - (3) Tulane vs. (6) SMU 12 p.m.
Match 2 - (2) Tulsa vs. (7) UAB 2 p.m.
Match 3 - (4) Rice vs. (5) Marshall 5 p.m.
Match 4 - (1) Southern Miss vs. (8) Houston 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 21
Match 5 - Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner 2 p.m.
Match 6 - Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner 4 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 22
Match 7 (CBS College Sports) 1 p.m.
