Tulane University
Houston
Houston Rallies to Down Volleyball in Four
Sep 25, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 25, 2011
Box Score (PDF) | Season Statistics (PDF)
NEW ORLEANS - The Green Wave grabbed the opening set of their match at Houston on Sunday (Sept. 25), but the Cougars won the second set going away, grabbed a tightly contested third set and then ran away with the fourth set to defeat the Tulane volleyball team at the Athletics/Alumni Center. Tulane fell in four sets to one of the Conference USA frontrunners, falling 25-20, 16-25, 24-26, 25-14.
"Again today, we just couldn't get all of our hitters working at once," said Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic. "Grace (Weaver) and Azarri (Badawi) really played well today, but everyone else struggled a little because they really presented a big block at the net. Our service game struggled today too and we allowed their best passers to handle the ball, which allowed them to get into their system quicker."
In the opening set, Tulane (5-8, 0-2 C-USA) trailed 7-4 in the early going, but their offense found its stride and quickly knotted things at 7-7. After the lead changed hands twice in the next four points, the Green Wave took the lead for good at 10-9 on an attacking error by the Cougars. A five-point run would give the Olive and Blue a 14-9 advantage and Houston couldn't close the gap closer than two points the rest of the set. Azarri Badawi paced the attack with seven kills in the opening set and Tulane grabbed the early momentum.
That momentum was short lived and the three-headed attack for Houston (10-3, 3-0 C-USA) carried the home team to three straight set wins to claim the match. The Cougars owned the early lead and led by as many as eight points, 13-5, and never allowed the Green Wave to get closer than four points the rest of the set. Tulane was outscored 12-9 over the second half of the set to post the 25-16 set win.
In the third set, Tulane raced out to an early five point lead, before Houston charged back to tie the match. The Green Wave again pushed their lead to six points, 22-16, but the Cougars fought back with six straight points to knot things up at 22-22. The two teams traded the next four points and the Cougars eventually tallied the final two points to take a two-sets-to-one advantage with the 26-24 victory.
"I think losing the third set was a big mental blow for us," said Momic. "We just couldn't stay steady at the end of the match. It just goes to show that when we follow our strategy we are pretty good and we can play with good teams like Houston, but when we get out of system we get into trouble."
Tulane grabbed a 3-2 lead early on in the fourth set, but Houston would score eight of the next nine points to take control of the final stanza. The Cougars would lead by as many as 11 down the stretch, as their offense would tally a hitting percentage of .500. Houston did not commit an attacking error in the four set, while Tulane hit just .079 and had nine attacking errors.
In the match, Badawi led the Tulane attack with a double-double that featured a career-high 14 kills and 12 digs. It was a tale of two different attacks for Tulane, hitting over .300 in the first and third set and hitting under .100 in the second and fourth sets. Izabela Grot had ten kills off the bench, while Grace Weaver tallied nine kills and 12 digs in the match for Tulane. Nikki Osuna again led all players with 17 digs. Errors again did in the Green Wave, with eight service errors, six blocking errors and seven service reception errors.
Tulane will return home for a pair of match next weekend against Conference USA foes Memphis and UAB. The Green Wave will host the Blazers on Friday, September 30 at 7:00 and take on the Tigers at Fogelman Arena on 1:00 on Sunday, October 2.
Season tickets are still available for the 2011 volleyball season through the Tulane Ticket office for just $55 for the remainder of home schedule. Single game tickets are also being sold 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--
