Tulane University
Coppin State
Volleyball Sweeps Coppin State In Final Non-Conference Match
Sep 20, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
Tulane/Coppin State Box Score In PDF Format
TUCSON, Ariz. - With the Tulane University volleyball team struggling through the pre-conference portion of the 2014 season, it appeared as if the Green Wave were following the teachings of 17th century English theologian Thomas Fuller - who is credited with coining the phrase "it is always darkest just before the day dawneth."
Over the first 11 matches, the Green Wave climbed up a tough learning curve which was complicated by new faces seeing extensive action for the first time in their careers as well as veterans playing new roles. On Saturday, however, Tulane found its collective rhythm and put together its most complete performance to date to come away with a 25-11, 25-22, 25-15 sweep of Coppin State in the final match of the Wildcat Classic at the University of Arizona's McKale Center.
"We had the right approach from the start and did a good job today, which has been rare so far this season," Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic said. "We were able to control the match against a pretty good Coppin State team that played some scrappy defense. Our attitude was more serious and we were more determined to get the job done. We have to make sure we continue playing with that mentality and taking our jobs seriously. We understand that we're not happy with our record and we have to make a change. I think we now know what those changes are as we head into conference play."
The Green Wave hit a season-high .406 as a team after tallying 47 kills and just six errors in 101 swings against the Eagles. In addition, Tulane had eight service aces - including three by sophomore outside hitter Tea Juric -which is two more than the previous high water mark in 2014 and the most since tallying nine against Savannah State back on Sept. 21, 2013.
Freshman right-side hitter Sarah Ray led the Green Wave with 18 kills and had just one attack error in 29 swings. Juric was next offensively with nine kills while the middle blocker tandem of senior Anna Wruck and sophomore Sarah Strasner combined to hit .448 with 13 kills and no errors in a combined 29 attacks.
Making her first collegiate start, sophomore setter Ally Frank posted a career-high 40 assists while chipping in with three digs, a kill and an assisted block. Her ball distribution was a key factor in Tulane posting it's first .400-plus attack percentage since the 2013 regular-season finale.
Defensively, sophomore libero Miah Diirell paced Tulane with 15 digs while Juric was close behind with 12. Strasner led the front-line unit with four assisted blocks with Ray adding three.
"Miah was more stable in passing and Ally was more stable in setting," Momic said. "That allowed us to find the hot hitter, which was Sarah Ray today. She got it going and the middles did a pretty good job offensively. Amy Lanski started on the outside and really contributed. We're still waiting on Tea to fully recover from her injury, to jump higher and to execute close to the level she was able to last year. Overall, we played very well as a team."
Tulane scored the first three points of the match and never looked back in the opening set. The Green Wave stretched the advantage to double digits at 14-4 and continued to push for points throughout the stanza en route to a 14-point win. The second set was a much tighter affair as the biggest lead of the frame was four and that lasted just one serve.
The two teams traded the first 18 points before Tulane broke the tie with back-to-back kills by Ray and never trailed again. The Green Wave appeared to be in good shape late with a 23-19 lead, but Coppin State refused to give in and cut the deficit to 24-22 on a kill by Ariel Richard before Ray capped the stanza with a kill of her own.
There would be no drama in the third set, however, as the Wave rolled out to a 6-0 lead and never let the Eagles back into the match. After going up by 10 at 15-5, Tulane did not allow Coppin State to get closer than seven the rest of the way to come out on top.
"We want to build on our last two matches," Momic said. "Against Arizona, even though we lost, we played pretty well in the last two sets. We just have to figure out what it takes to win. It starts with attitude. We need to take that much more seriously all the time, and only then can we push through to be on the winning side more consistently."
Richard led Coppin State with 18 kills to tie Ray's match-high mark while Gabrielle Otero led the Eagles' defense with 12 digs. Chelsee Sauni had 34 of the team's 36 assists and Kendra Ireigbe paced the squad with three blocks.
The Green Wave return to action on Friday, Sept. 26 when Tulane opens play in The American Athletic Conference against Memphis at 7 p.m. in Devlin Fieldhouse. For tickets 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.
