Next Up: Southern Miss Ahead in Season Finale
Nov 26, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 26, 2010
Conference USA Weekly Update (PDF)
11/27/2010
Tulane Green Wave host Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Start Times: 7:00 p.m.
Arena: Fogelman Arena
Looking at the Green Wave
After a slow start, this young Green Wave squad has picked up the pace late in the season with a 7-3 record over their last ten matches. That record includes a 3-1 mark at home and 4-2 road record, while Tulane has won four matches in three sets and two in five sets.
Earlier this week, the conference office announced the winners of their individual awards and the All-Conference USA squads. Tulane grabbed their fourth Freshman of the Year award in the last six seasons, when Cori Martone earned the top rookie designation. Martone was also named to the All-Freshman team, while Izabela Grot earned Second Team All-Conference USA and senior Lindsey Shepard was named to the All-Academic Team.
Grot paces the Olive and Blue with 353 total kills and a 3.24 kills per-set average, which ranks ninth among the C-USA competitors, and owns a team-high 394.5 points. Her point total ranks 12th in Conference USA, while her hitting percentage of .271 ranks 18th overall. Shepard is hitting at a .325 clip this season, which ranks ninth on the single season Tulane charts, and sits seventh among her Conference USA competitors.
If the Green Wave can post a win in their final match of the season, it would mark the eighth time that they would have finished the season with a victory. They accomplished that feat from 1978-79 and 1981, again from 1985-88 and last did it in 2007.
Scouting the Golden Eagles
Southern Miss will enter the regular season finale with a record of 19-11 overall and a 12-7 mark in Conference USA play. Over their last 13 matches, the Golden Eagles have won 11 of them. Seven of those matches have went three sets (5-2), three have lasted four sets (3-0) and they are 3-0 in five-setters during that stretch.
Ashley Mell has been the go-to-player on the outside for Southern Miss this season, leading the team with 501 kills, which ranks second in Conference USA this season. The junior also ranks 15th among her league counterparts, and is second on the team, with 348 digs (2.88 dps). Setter Kelsea Seymour also ranks second in the conference in her specialty, entering the weekend with 1,250 assists.
Last weekend, the Golden Eagles won a three-setter over East Carolina and dropped a three-set decision at Marshall. Mell placed the squad at East Carolina with 17 kills, hitting .414 in 29 attacks, while adding five digs. Seymour posted 38 assists, adding two kills and six digs against the Pirates. Lauren Sears paced the offense with 11 kills against the Thundering Herd, with four blocks. Lisa Knecht led the team with 14 digs against the Pirates and 29 versus Marshall.
--TulaneGreenWave.com--
