Tulane University
Tulsa
Volleyball Bounced From C-USA Semis by Tulsa, 3-0
Nov 21, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2009
HOUSTON, Texas - In the matchup of the two Conference USA volleyball co-Players of the Year, it was the Freshman of the Year who stole the show. Tulsa freshman Tyler Henderson posted a match-high 18 kills as the Golden Hurricane swept Tulane out of the semifinals of the Conference USA Championship Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse, (25-19, 25-19, 25-20). C-USA Co-Player of the Year Visnja Djurdjevic led Tulane with 16 kills, while Tulsa's co-Player of the Year, Jennifer Eichler recorded 11.
Tulane falls to 18-9 on the year, and will await word on a possible at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament. Tulsa improves to 26-6 on the season, advancing to the finals against the winner of top-seeded Southern Miss and fourth-seeded host Rice.
"We were hoping to play again today like we did yesterday, but that obviously didn't happen," head coach Sinisa Momic said. "One reason was Tulsa playing great, and having a couple of hitters that were unstoppable as well as having a well organized defense. Our offense didn't work today, and on top of that, they ran a good offense and we couldn't stop it. Those things combined made us unstable. At moments, it looked like we could catch up, but it didn't happen. Tulsa definitely out-played us in every skill today."
Tulsa hit .255 for the day, while holding Tulane to a .096 percentage. The mark was Tulane's second-lowest mark of the season, and the lowest in 25 matches dating back to a 3-0 loss to No. 6 Nebraska on Sept. 5. The Golden Hurricane defense pulled out 52 digs in three sets on the Green Wave and recorded nine blocks. Jessica Adams led Tulsa's defensive effort with 18 digs. Henderson posted a .300 hitting percentage for the Golden Hurricane, while Eichler slugged .409 for the match.
Djurdjevic recorded her 16 kills on 39 swings, while contributing nine digs. Senior setter Rachel Lindelow chipped in 11 digs to go with 30 assists, while senior libero Jenn Miller also posted 11 digs. Senior outside hitter Ksenija Vlaskovic added six kills, while freshman middle blocker Marija Milosavljevic added seven.
Set one featured four early ties before Tulsa established a 13-10 lead. Tulane battled back as a kill from Vlaskovic helped the Wave even the set at 16. But the Golden Hurricane reeled off six straight points to seize control. Tulsa closed out the 25-19 win on a kill from Eichler. Tulsa pulled out 20 digs and posted three blocks to hold Tulane to a .108 hitting percentage.
A 5-0 run in set two gave Tulsa an early 9-4 lead. Despite a pair of kills from Milosavljevic, the Golden Hurricane stretched the margin to 19-11. Tulane rattled off three straight, on a kill from Vlaskovic and a block from Milosavljevic, but Tulane would get no closer than 22-19, as Julia Kenealy dropped back-to-back kills to seal the 25-19 win.
Two straight kills from Djurdjevic on the left pin gave Tulane an 11-9 lead in set three, but Tulsa rallied back with a 9-2 run, taking a 15-14 lead on a soft tip over the front line and stretching the margin to 20-15. Tulane closed the gap to 23-20 on back-to-back kills from Lindsey Shepard, but the Golden Hurricane slammed the door with kills from Henderson and Eichler.
In three matches this season against Tulane, Henderson amassed 69 kills in 10 sets, hitting .336.
Vlaskovic, who recorded her 1,500th career kill in the quarterfinals on Friday, recorded two digs to sit at 699 for her career.
The selection show for the NCAA Volleyball Championship is Sunday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. CT (ESPNEWS). With a ranking of number 34 in the Ratings Percentage Index (as of November 15), the Green Wave figure to be sitting squarely on the bubble to make their second-straight NCAA appearance.
