Tulane University
Houston
Volleyball Falls In Five To American Foe Houston
Oct 7, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Tulane/Houston Box Score In PDF Format 
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane University volleyball team sported a new look but it was not enough to snap a recent skid as the Green Wave dropped a five-set decision to American Athletic Conference foe Houston on Wednesday evening inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse.
After using a one-setter system over the first 16 matches of the season, the Wave employed a 6-2 system against the Cougars. The move helped Tulane keep pace with the high-octane opponent as the Wave answered 25-23 and 25-13 losses in sets one and three, respectively, with victories of 25-20 and 25-23. Tulane rallied from a 10-6 deficit late in the fifth set to tie the frame at 13-all only to see Houston get a kill from Brookah Palmer and a block by Chenelle Walker to come away with a 15-13 decision.
The loss was the Green Wave's third five-set loss in as many matches as Tulane fell to 7-10 on the year and 1-4 in American action. Houston, meanwhile, won its third-consecutive match to improve to 14-3 overall and 4-1 in league play.
"Again, the girls fought all the way through but we were short a couple of points," Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic said. "We tried a different system, which I think really benefited us in this match, and we were able to take it to five. We just have to keep working on playing better overall.
"Houston is a really solid ball-control team, especially in defense and transition offense. A couple of errors at the end cost us the match. Overall, we had a great effort. In the last three matches, we lost in five by a couple of points. But the big thing is the effort is there and that's something we can build on."
Sophomore right-side hitter Sarah Ray was one of three Green Wave players to post a double-double and led the team with 15 kills and 26 digs. Junior outside hitter Tea Juric was next for Tulane offensively with 13 kills to go with 14 digs and a pair of blocks while junior setter Ally Frank tallied a team-best 29 assists while chipping in with 12 digs. Freshman libero Lisa Mordell tallied 25 digs and the middle blocker duo of junior Sarah Strasner (all assists) and freshman Dayna Kern shared the team lead in blocks with six apiece.
While Juric and Ray were the only two Green Wave players to post double-digit kill totals, junior outside hitter Annie Shurtz finished the match with nine, Kern added eight and freshman right-side hitter Aubrey Folk had seven. Kern hit a team-best .615 with no errors in 13 total attacks. Freshman setter Elizabeth Hurring, meanwhile, was one dig shy of a double-double with 22 assists and nine ups.
Tulane got off to a rocky start in each of the first two sets as Houston jumped out to 4-0 leads both times. In the opening set, the Green Wave battled to cut the deficit to one on 12 occasions only to see the Cougars answer each time. Houston held a 22-21 lead late in the opening set and took advantage of back-to-back Tulane miscues to create some breathing room and went on to win by a pair.
The second set, however, was a different story as the Wave answered Houston's 4-0 start with an 11-3 run to take a four-point lead they would not relinquish. The Tulane advantage swelled to as many as six at 17-11 and the Green Wave tied the match with a five-point victory.
Following the break, Houston opened the third set with an 8-3 run and never looked back en route to a 12-point win, and the Green Wave answered in the fourth with a 15-5 run to open the frame. The lead remained at 10 two points later at 16-6 and the Cougars put a scare in the home team as Houston used a 9-1 rally to make it a 17-15 affair. The Cougs got to within one at 22-21, but the Green Wave got kills following three of the next five serves to send the match into the fifth-and-deciding stanza.
"[Losing in five is] frustrating but we have to think about the positives," Momic added. "We're doing so many things well. We've taken some good teams to five. Now we have to figure out what else we need to add to that, keep working and stay positive. Once we earn it, we're going to start winning more."
Palmer paced the Houston offense with a match-high 31 kills while Claire McCown had 12 and Walker added 10. Palmer completed a double-double with 13 digs, as did Keandra McCardell with 58 assists and 18 digs. Olivia O'Dell led the Cougar defense with 47 digs and Walker paced the front-line unit with seven blocks (3 solo, 4 assists).
The Green Wave return to action on Friday, Oct. 9, when they travel to Greenville, North Carolina, to face conference foe East Carolina at 6 p.m. (CDT). From there, Tulane come back home to face Cincinnati on Friday, Oct. 16, and Memphis on Sunday, Oct. 18.
Single-match tickets to all Tulane home volleyball events are available through the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at prices of $6 for adults and $4 for youths (ages 3-12) per contest. Tickets can be purchase by clicking HERE or by calling the Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE (9283).
