Tulane University
Southeastern Louisiana
Volleyball Sweeps Southeastern Louisiana In Sugar Bowl Classic Opener
Sep 11, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
| Video Interview With Coach Momic
Tulane/Southeastern Louisiana Box Score In PDF Format
NEW ORLEANS - It may have taken a little longer than the coaches, student-athletes and fans may have wanted, but things came together for the Tulane University on Thursday evening in Devlin Fieldhouse as the Green Wave opened the 13th Annual Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic with a straight-sets win over Southeastern Louisiana to pick up their first win of the 2014 season.
After failing to hit better than .125 and not reaching the 40-kill plateau over the first two weeks of the year, Tulane (1-6) tallied 40 kills and hit .256 for the match with just 17 errors in 90 swings against the Lions (2-6). The Green Wave turned a close opening set into a 25-18 win, never trailed in the second frame en route to a 25-19 victory and completed the sweep with a 25-16 effort in what proved to be the final stanza.
"I think we played pretty solid volleyball for this time of year," Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic said. "We're pleased to pretty much have the whole roster healthy again and we played at a pretty decent level of volleyball for most of the match. That's a direct result of playing really tough teams over the first two weeks. That kind of sped up our improvement and focus in practice.
"The girls really worked hard this week and I think it showed. We were focused, we improved on pretty much every aspect of our game and it's an improvement from last week. We're looking to just keep improving every match and we're heading in the right direction."
Sophomore outside hitter Tea Juric was one of two Green Wave players to post double-digit kill totals with 13 while freshman right-side hitter Sarah Ray added 10. Sophomore setter Lauren Etta tallied a career-best totals of 33 assists and 11 digs to post the first double-double of her time in a Tulane uniform.
Senior libero Grace Weaver led the Green Wave with 15 digs and senior middle blocker Anna Wruck paced the front-line defense with six assists (2 solo, 4 assists). Ray and sophomore middle Sarah Strasner chipped in with four blocks each as Tulane posted a season-best 11.0 stuffs (4 solo, 14 assists) to hold Southeastern to a .021 attack percentage (23 kills, 21 errors, 96 attempts).
"Lauren had a really good match," Momic said. "Our passing was decent. At certain points, we struggled with serve receiving because Southeastern served really tough, but our offense was clicking much better. Lauren did a good job and our hitters picked it up."
The two teams traded the first four points of Thursday's match and Tulane scored on five of the next six serves to create a bit of separation. The Lions refused to go away quietly and trailed by just three at 20-17 late in the frame only to see the Green Wave close out the set with a 5-1 run to come out on top.
Tulane's late rally carried over the second stanza as the Green Wave opened the frame with a 6-0 run and led by as many as nine at 19-10. Southeastern Louisiana scored four straight to make it a 19-14 contest, but the Wave's early advantage proved to be too big to overcome.
The Wave fell behind 2-1 after three serves in the third set before rattling off eight consecutive points to take control of the stanza. Tulane's lead swelled to as many as 11 at 14-3 and 15-4 and never allowed the Lions to get within six the rest of the way.
Elizabeth Ramee and Shelby Devlin shared team-high kills honors for Southeastern Louisiana with five apiece, and Mikayla Shippy led the team with 10 assists. Morgan Todd led the Lion defense with 12 digs while Tiffany Thomas, Rachael Bunn and Brooke Balser each tallied a pair of block assists.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Classic continues on Friday when FAU takes on Howard and Southeastern Louisiana at 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively, and Tulane will close out the day with a 7 p.m. showdown with Howard. The tournament will conclude on Saturday with a 10 a.m. match between Southeastern Louisiana and Howard while the Green Wave will cap the weekend with a 1 p.m. battle against FAU.
Single-match tickets throughout the 2014 season are available at rates of $6 for adults, $5 for seniors (65 and older), and $4 for youth (14 and under). Fans can purchase an all-tournament pass for the weekend at $24 for adults/seniors and $12 for youth. In addition, single-day passes for Friday's matches are $12 for adults/seniors and $6 for youths while Saturday two-match passes are available at $8 for adults/seniors and $4 for youth.
For fans who cannot make it to Devlin Fieldhouse for this weekend's matches, live stats are available on-line at the official website of Tulane Athletics, www.TulaneGreenWave.com, for free via GameTracker. In addition, live video will be provided for free on the internet courtesy of the Tulane All-Access Pass.
Season tickets for the 2014 Tulane volleyball team are available for $55 through 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.
