Next Up: Volleyball Heads to Rice
Oct 7, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 7, 2010
Conference USA Weekly Update (PDF) | Season Statistics (PDF)
Head Coach S. Momic (Video) | Freshman M. Mandelbaum (Video)
10/8/2010 - 10/9/2010
Tulane Green Wave at Rice Owls
Start Times: 7:00 p.m. (Friday, Oct. 8) and 7:00 p.m. (Saturday, Oct. 9)
Arena: Tudor Fieldhouse
Looking at the Green Wave
The Green Wave will look to grab a pair of Conference USA wins in Houston this weekend against Rice, a team they hold a 12-9 mark against in the all-time series. The two teams split a pair of matches last season, with each team winning on the other team's home court. Prior to their loss last season, Tulane had won seven in a row in the series.
Mel Mandelbaum has been a solid player for the Green Wave over the past five games, handing out 10.40 assists per-set and chipping in 3.05 digs per-set. Against SMU last week, Mandelbaum posted 25 digs and 65 assists, both setting new career highs. On the season, Mandelbaum leads the team with 537 and is second with 155 digs.
Milica Jovic and Izabela Grot are leading the squad in kills during the Conference USA slate, tallying 54 and 50 kills respectively. The duo each posted career-best efforts in Tulane's five-setter against SMU, with Grot tallying 25 kills and Jovic adding 21 kills.
Scouting the Owls
Rice enters this weekend with a 4-1 Conference USA mark, sitting tied for second with SMU, and has won six of its last seven matches, with their lone loss at Southern Miss on Sept. 25. The Owls and Tulane represented C-USA in the NCAA Tournament last season, with Rice winning the tournament title.
Senior Tracey Lam is the reigning Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week paces the entire conference with 354 total digs and 5.71 digs per-set. Ashleigh McCord leads the squad with 221 kills, while Nancy Cole has 172 kills and Jordan Meredith has 124 kills. Cole ranks fourth in Conference USA with a .340 hitting percentage.
As a team, the Owls rank among the top-five in five statistical categories. Rice has 863 total kills this season, which are tops in C-USA, and their kills per-set average ranks third overall. Their hitting percentage of .234 is tied for second among the 12-team conference and they are limiting their opponents to a .191 clip, also third in C-USA.
--TulaneGreenWave.com--
