Tulane University
Rice
Errors Doom Volleyball in Loss at Rice
Oct 9, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 9, 2010
Box Score (PDF) | Season Statistics (PDF)
HOUSTON - It came down to the final points in each set for the Tulane volleyball team, but the Green Wave couldn't hold off Rice in their 3-0 loss on Saturday evening. Tulane held late leads in each of the three sets, but the Owls would eventually close out each of them to take the match by scores of 20-25, 20-25 and 22-25.
"We played well until the end of each set," said Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic. "It came down the to the final points in each match and we just couldn't close them out. Milica had a good match and is showing signs of improvement and our team really competed. I don't think it is a lack of effort, we just need to close out some matches."
Rice staked to an early 11-6 lead in the opening set, but Tulane trimmed that edge to just one point behind a block from Milica Jovic, along with a kill and two service aces by Izabela Grot. After the Owls tallied the next point, Cori Martone connected on a kill and then chipped in a block - with an assist from Lindsey Shepard - to tie things up at 12-12. The scored remained close until the Owls broke an 18-18 deadlock and went on to the claim the opening set.
Neither team enjoyed a lead of more than two points for the majority of the frame, until the Owls grabbed control at the end, again. Rice held the early edge, before Tulane tied things at ten points apiece. The Green Wave took the lead and held the advantage until Rice went ahead 19-18. Six of the final eight points went to the home-standing Owls and they took the 2-0 advantage with another 25-20 set win.
In the third set, Tulane grabbed the lead from the get-go, pushing their lead to 9-6 on kills from Mel Mandelbaum, Grot and Shepard. Rice slowly chipped away at the Green Wave advantage and knotted things up at 15 and eventually went ahead for good by tallying five of the next six points. The Owls built a two point cushion at 21-19 and traded side out points the rest of the way to end the match with a 25-22 win.
Jovic had a team-best 14 kills in the match, while Martone and Amaris Genemaras each tallied 15 digs in the losing effort. Grot added ten kills, while Mandelbaum had 33 assists, eight digs and two blocks on Saturday. Each team had 41 kills overall, but Tulane committed 21 hitting errors and Rice had just nine. The Owls also held the edge in blocks (10-4) and service aces (6-3).
Tulane is now 4-14 overall and fall to 1-5 in Conference USA play. The Green Wave will return home next weekend for a Friday evening match versus UTEP and a Sunday afternoon tilt against UCF.
--TulaneGreenWave.com--
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