A Look at the 2010 Volleyball Roster: Defense
Aug 18, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 18, 2010
Head coach S. Momic
Freshman A. Bennett
Freshman M. Peterson
NEW ORLEANS - One thing that you can't get away from on the volleyball court is playing defense, it's one of the only things that you, as a play, have no control over. Thus, the reasons that the NCAA introduced the libero in 2002 and some many teams around the country pride themselves on playing good defense. The Green Wave have a pair of defensive specialists on their roster this season and have put in some extensive time preparing to defend the court.
While everyone on the roster will need to be willing and able to perform on the defensive end, the duo of Amber Bennett and Nikki Osuna will each be looked at to anchor the Green Wave's defensive unit. Bennett joins the TU program after a successful - and versatile - career at The Hammond School (S.C.) and Osuna comes to campus after a stop at Orange Coast College in California.
"Without defense and passing you don't really have anything. It is the first contact in volleyball. After that, it dictates how your setting will be and setting dictates offense, so without passing you don't really have much of an offense. With this team, since they are so young, we are trying to make sure these players do it right technically and get the repetitions."
With three years of college experience under her belt, Osuna is one of the more experienced court players, spending a season at Seattle Pacific before transferring to OCC for the past two seasons. The Bellflower, Calif. native stands just five-foot, three-inches, but set the school record for digs in a season for the Pirates (602) and was an integral part of the teams run to the California Community College Athletic Association title last season.
Osuna was selected to the CCCAA All-Tournament squad in 2009, tallying 167 digs in six tournament matches, and was a First Team All-Orange Empire Conference pick after leading the OEC in total digs and digs-per-set.
Bennett is one of the six true freshmen to join the program in 2010 and played nearly every position on the court during her time at The Hammond School. She helped the Skyhawks to the top ranking in the region during three of her four seasons and they finished runner-up at the South Carolina State Championships her sophomore season.
Season ticket packages are on sale now, priced $55 for adults and $35 for youth, and can be purchased online at www.tulanegreenwave.com or by calling the Tulane Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.
Check back on Friday, August 20 for the third position preview as we will look at the Green Wave's attacking corps.
--TulaneGreenWave.com--
