Tulane University
Memphis
Volleyball Suffers Spooky Loss at Memphis
Oct 31, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 31, 2010
Box Score (PDF) | Season Statistics (PDF)
NEW ORLEANS - They say that strange things happen on Halloween and on Sunday at the Elma Rose Fieldhouse, the Tulane volleyball team took an early 2-0 lead against Memphis, before the Tigers would rally to claim a 3-2 decision when it was all said and done.
The opening set was all Tulane, with the Green Wave posting a .333 hitting percentage (9 kills, 3 errors) and limited Memphis to a -.269 (3 kills, 10 errors). With the set tied at 1-1, Tulane rattled off seven straight points, including a pair of blocks from Cori Martone and two kills from Izabela Grot. Leading 11-5, the Olive and Blue put together another seven point spurt to take an 18-5 lead and closed out the match with seven of the final ten points.
The second set was completely different from the opener, with Memphis holding the lead throughout the stanza, but Tulane grabbed the lead late to push ahead 2-0. The host Tigers built a 15-7 lead at the midway point, but the Olive and Blue chipped away at that lead and pulled within three points at 16-13 on a kill by Grot. Memphis built another sizeable lead at 21-13, but Tulane scored 12 of the final 14 points to grab the momentum and a 2-0 lead.
Memphis returned the second set mojo to Tulane in the third set, with the Green Wave leading for most of the set, before the Tigers would grab the lead late and make it a 2-1 match. After an Altrese Hawkins attacking error, Tulane had a 14-9 lead and the comeback would start for the Tigers. The set was tied at 15-15 and eventually was tied at 18-18 before Memphis would take the lead for good. Tulane faced set point at 24-21, but rallied to knot the stanza a 24-24, but Memphis scored the final two points for the win.
Memphis led throughout in the fourth set to grab a 25-19 win and knot the match at two sets apiece. The fifth set featured three early ties, but Memphis broke open the final frame with a 5-0 run to grab the 8-3 lead. The margin eventually widened to 13-5, but the Olive and Blue made it a match once again with a 6-1 run to pull near at 14-11. Memphis would eventually grab the final set on a service ace from Milica Jovic and end the match with the 15-11 set victory.
Martone posted her sixth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 blocks, while Grot paced the squad with 18 kills. The Green Wave had 18 blocks in the match, posted a .232 hitting percentage in the match, with Memphis hitting .220, and had 11 service aces, but they committed eight service errors and had 12 return errors in the loss. Lindsey Shepard also chipped in 14 kills, Mel Mandelbaum had 32 assists and Nikki Osuna added 11 digs in the match.
With the loss, Tulane falls to 7-18 overall and 4-8 in Conference USA play and will finish up their four-match road trip next weekend with contests at UCF and UTEP. The Green Wave will play at UCF on Friday, November 5 at 5:00 and at UTEP on Sunday, November 7 at 1:00.
--TulaneGreenWave.com--
