Tulane University
Memphis
Volleyball Swept in Sunday Matinee
Oct 2, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 2, 2011
Box Score (PDF) | Season Statistics (PDF)
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane volleyball was unable to find their flow on offense against a tough Memphis service attach and fell in three sets to the Tigers on Sunday (Oct. 2) at Fogelman Arena. A bushel of unforced errors and an offense that could muster just 25 kills doomed the Green Wave as they fell by scores of 19-25, 19-25, 17-25.
"We weren't able to follow game plan, at all, and we just didn't show enough effort today," said Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic. "Nobody really played up to their potential. We scored some and had a few players hit the ball well, but nobody really showed up. What we talked about in practice really didn't transfer over to the match and all we can try to do is fix it next week."
In the opening set, Tulane head a 3-1 lead and led by one points at 9-8 before the Tigers offense took over. Vesna Jelic got the Memphis rally started with a kill to knot things at nine points and, after a service ace from Hajnalka Molnar, she gave Memphis a three point advantage with a kill. The visitors lead swelled to six points, 17-11, but Tulane closed the gap quickly to pull within two points at 18-16. A quick five point spurt from Memphis put the match away and the Tigers claimed the 25-19 victory in the opening set.
Another early Tulane lead was erased by the Tigers in the second frame with the Green Wave leading 8-4 in the early going. Memphis outscored Tulane 7-3 over the next ten points and knotted the set at 11-11. A service error and kill from Milica Jovic gave TU a 13-11 lead, but 5-1 run from Memphis put them into the lead for good at 16-14. The visitors closed on a 9-4 run to put away the second frame, with Memphis hitting .370 for the set and Tulane hitting just .160.
A 2-2 tie turned into a 9-4 advantage for Memphis in the third set and Tulane would get no closer than four points the rest of the way. The Green Wave hit a miniscule .029 in the final set, with eight kills and seven attacking errors, while Memphis posted a hitting percentage of .212, with 11 kills and four errors, to go along with three service aces on their way to a 25-17 advantage.
"Without serve receive there is nothing you can do," Momic said. "We are still struggling in our passing unit and that affects our offense. We still haven't found someone that is capable to taking the load (on defense) and can still hit well (offensively). In this rally scoring system, if you cannot serve receive well and not side out at 70-percent, you are not going to win many matches. And right now we are not siding out nearly enough."
Overall, Jovic led the Green Wave attack with eight kills and Cori Martone had seven successful attacks. Anna Wruck had four blocks and added two kills, while Nikki Osuna posted a match-high 13 digs. Osuna has now posted the match-high dig total in four straight matches.
"We need to practice as hard as we can and play our hardest every match," said Momic. "We are going to have a hard week of practice and try to change some things."
Tulane will next take to the court on Saturday, October 8 when they travel to Dallas, Texas to face off with SMU. That will be the first of two matches against the Mustangs, whom the Green Wave will also play on Sunday, October 9. Both of those matches will start at 2:00 p.m.
Single game tickets for the remainder of the 2011 home slate are on sale now and can be purchased by contacting the Tulane Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE or visiting the Tulane Team Shop inside the James Wilson, Jr. Center between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
--www.TulaneGreenWave.com--
