Tulane University
East Carolina
Efficient Offense Leads Volleyball to Sweep of ECU
Oct 22, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 22, 2010
Box Score (PDF) | Season Statistics (PDF)
NEW ORLEANS - In one of the more efficient matches of the season, the Tulane volleyball team recorded a 3-0 victory over East Carolina on Friday evening at Fogelman Arena. The Olive and Blue hit .463 as a team and committed only ten errors to win the match by scores of 25-14, 25-22, 25-18.
"Our six-two system worked for us tonight," said Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic. "We always had three hitters in the front row and that allowed open looks for our middle hitters. Our service receive wasn't very good tonight, but we were able to get side out points from our middle hitters. It was a good team effort overall and I think that the players are starting to get a little more comfortable with the new system."
Tulane took control of the opening set by racing out to an early 11-3 lead, including seven points during a service rotation by Elysa Jackson. After ECU cut the lead to 13-8, Mel Mandelbaum served for six straight points and the Green Wave traded points the rest of the way to claim a 25-14 victory. Izabela Grot led the way with four kills, while Mandelbaum and Jackson each had two service aces to help the Olive and Blue lead from the outset in the first set.
The second set was played in a much different fashion from the first, with 11 ties and seven lead changes. East Carolina took the early edge, but Tulane rallied to take an 8-4 lead on a service ace from Jackson. The two teams exchanged the lead six more times in the set with Tulane grabbing the lead for good at 20-19 on a Lindsey Shepard kill. Shepard had seven kills in the second stanza and Jackson handed out nine assists and added a kill to take the 2-0 lead in the match.
Again, the Green Wave led from start to finish in the third set, building an early advantage on the visiting Pirates. Five separate Tulane players recorded kills and ECU had three hitting errors to enable the home team to take a 10-3 lead in the early going. East Carolina would get no closer than four points the rest of the set and Tulane claimed their tenth straight win over the Pirates.
Grot led the Tulane offense with 14 kills and committed just one hitting error in the match, while Shepard added nine kills and Azarri Badawi chipped in eight. All seven of the Tulane players that recorded kills hit better than .400 in the match to enable the Olive and Blue to post a .463 hitting percentage, which ranks sixth in a single game in Tulane history.
Tulane improves to 6-16 overall in 2010 and are now 3-7 in Conference USA play with their three-set victory. The Olive and Blue will host Marshall on Saturday, October 23 starting at 7:00 inside Fogelman Arena.
--TulaneGreenWave.com--
