Tulane University
Tulsa
Volleyball Drops 3-0 Decision To American Rival Tulsa
Nov 2, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
Tulane/Tulsa Box Score In PDF Format
On the positive side, the Green Wave held the Golden Hurricane to a .184 attack percentage as Tulsa had 35 kills and 17 errors in 98 swings. On the negative, Tulane hit just .070 for the match (26-21-114) and committed 21 hitting errors, 11 service errors and three ball-handling errors as the Green Wave fell to Tulsa, 3-0.
The 25-15, 25-19, 25-20 loss was the fifth in a row for Tulane, which fell to 5-19 on the year and 3-9 in American action. Tulsa, meanwhile, won it second-straight match to improve to 15-8 overall and 7-5 in league play.
"We started off with too many errors," Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic said. "We were passing and hitting at bad percentages. We had a couple of runs where we tried to come back, but we just committed way too may unforced errors overall. We weren't able to show how we can really play or how good our players really are."
Freshman outside hitter Sarah Ray led the Green Wave with 11 kills, but was the lone Tulane player to finish in double figures as sophomore right-side hitter Tea Juric and sophomore middle blocker Sarah Strasner were second on the squad with six kills each. Sophomore setter Ally Frank had 22 of Tulane's 24 assists, sophomore libero Makenzie Frieden led the Wave with 16 digs, and Strasner paced the defense with three blocks (2 solo, 1 assist).
The Green Wave line-up had a new look on Sunday as freshman Maggie Singleton started at middle blocker while senior Anna Wruck shifted from the middle to right-side hitter. In her first career start, Singleton had two kills and no errors in eight attacks and added a pair of blocks. Wruck, meanwhile, chipped in with four kills.
"We just recently decided to go with this line-up," Momic added. "Overall, we wanted to increase our hitting at all three pins. It didn't work as well as it should, but we're looking for ways to improve. I think with time, that will definitely improve."
The match started as a back-and-forth affair as the two teams traded the first eight points in the opening set and Tulane trailed by just a pair at 12-10 midway through the stanza. From there, Tulsa used a 7-1 run to take control of the frame and scored following six of the next 10 serves to earn a 10-point victory.
The Green Wave scored the first point of the second set, but that would be their only lead of the contest. After falling behind 10-6, Tulane used a 5-1 run to tie the frame at 11-all only to see the Golden Hurricane answer with a 6-1 run to take a commanding 17-12 advantage. The Wave kept things interesting for a while and were down just two at 21-19 late in the contest before Tulsa closed things out with a 4-0 run to cap a six-point win.
The late Golden Hurricane rally spilled over into the start of what proved to be the final set as Tulsa opened with a 6-0 run and never led by fewer than two at any point in the contest. The Green Wave shook off the slow start to make it a 21-19 game late before Tulsa responded with a 4-1 run to close things out.
Ashley Hooper, who hit .800 with no attack errors in 15 swings, led Tulsa with 12 kills while Erica Bohannon followed closely with 10. Bailey Clampitt tallied 31 of the Golden Hurricane's 34 assists, Brooke Berryhill led all players with a match-high 18 digs and Nicole Newton headlined the Tulsa defense with four block assists.
The Green Wave return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 5, when they travel to The Lone Star State for a 7 p.m. showdown at Houston. The contest against the Cougars is the first of a four-match road swing as Tulane will play at East Carolina on Nov. 9, at Cincinnati on Nov. 14 and at Memphis on Nov. 16. The Wave's next home match is slated for Friday, Nov. 21, when they play host to UCF in Devlin Fieldhouse.
For ticket information to that match, as well as future Green Wave events, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office. The ticket office is located on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr., Center and is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For additional information, call (504) 861-WAVE (9283) or log onto the internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
