Tulane University
Rice
Volleyball Drops 3-0 Decision at Rice
Oct 8, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2010
Box Score (PDF) | Season Statistics (PDF)
HOUSTON - Tulane volleyball dropped their third straight match at Tudor Fieldhouse on Friday evening, falling 3-0 to the Rice Owls. The Green Wave held late leads in the first and third sets, but couldn't close out the Owls on the road, falling by scores of 20-25, 19-25 and 22-25.
"You have to be at your best when playing a team as talented as Rice," said Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic. "We made some freshman mistakes tonight. Rice is a tough team to score on and we just couldn't put the ball away tonight. Our outside (hitters) had to carry the load and it wasn't enough. We can't make unforced errors tomorrow and we will try to correct some things during morning session and look to get something going tomorrow evening."
In the opening set, Tulane grabbed the early lead and eventually held a 6-5 edge on a service error from Meredith Schamun. The Owls rallied to take the lead at 14-10 when Megan White collected a kill, but Tulane scored six of the next seven points to retake the lead at 16-15. That was the last lead that the Olive and Blue would enjoy, as Rice outscored Tulane 10-4 to close out the first set win.
The second set was controlled by the Owls, who led throughout, taking an early 3-0 lead, before Tulane would draw within one at 3-2 on a block from Azarri Badawi and Milica Jovic. Rice would open up a 6-2 edge and eventually lead by ten points, 19-9. The Green Wave scored four of the final five points to draw closer, but a kill from Jordan Meredith ended the match at 25-19.
Set three featured ten ties and four lead changes, with Rice taking the early lead and the Green Wave rallying to secure a 15-14 edge at the midway point. The Owls would tally four straight points to retake the lead for good and eventually close out the set with the victory.
Overall, Cori Martone led the way with ten kills for the Green Wave and with ten digs, Martone posted her fourth double-double of the season. Mel Mandelbaum handed out 27 assists in the three-set loss, while Milica Jovic added seven kills.
Tulane, now 4-13 overall, fall to 1-4 in Conference USA play and will tangle with the Owls again on Saturday (October 3) evening, with the match starting at 7:00.
--TulaneGreenWave.com--
