Tulane University
SMU
Volleyball Drops Match at SMU, 3-0
Nov 13, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
DALLAS – Despite a strong push in the final set, Tulane's volleyball squad fell to American Athletic Conference leader SMU in straight sets on Friday night at Moody Coliseum.
Tulane (9-18, 3-12) dropped the first set, 25-18, before falling in set two, 25-10. After the break, SMU (24-3, 14-1) closed things out with a 25-20 win, despite a valiant effort from the Green Wave. Tulane led, 16-15, midway through the third and final set before succumbing to a solid close by the Mustangs.
"SMU really showed why they are atop our league," said Tulane volleyball head coach Sinisa Momic. "They played very well. I think we did not play on the level that we could, which kept us out of it. We need to figure out how to play with better effort. We possess better skills than we showed tonight."
The Green Wave struggled out of the gate against as they were up against one of the strongest teams in The American. The Green Wave took a 2-0 lead thanks to a kill by junior Tea Juric and an attack error by the Mustangs, but they never led again. After ties at three and four, SMU controlled things until the mid-portion of the set, when Tulane notched three-straight points to cut the lead to 16-14. The Mustangs' Abbey Bybel ended Tulane's streak, but two-straight attack errors by SMU put Tulane within one at 17-16. At that point, however, the Mustangs pulled away, as the Green Wave scored just twice throughout the rest of the set.
SMU scored the first three of set two before freshman Aubrey Folk recorded a kill. After a Tulane attack error, fellow rookie Dayna Kern notched a kill to cut SMU's lead to 4-2. At that point, though, the Mustangs scored seven-straight points, and led for the remainder of the set.
Despite the tough second set, Tulane came out with renewed focus in set three, even leading at 16-10. But SMU rallied and put the Green Wave away on nine-consecutive points before eventually taking the match in straight sets.
"We came back out of the break with the right attitude, and we played pretty well, but SMU just caught up," added Momic. "But we need to come out strong from the start of the match. That was certainly missing this match."
Sophomore Sarah Ray paced the squad with seven kills on the evening, while junior Lauren Etta led the Green Wave in assists at nine. Rookie Lisa Mordell posted 13 digs, while Juric was right behind her at 11. Folk and junior Sarah Strasner led the way with three blocks apiece.
The Green Wave will return to action on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1:00 p.m. CT, as Tulane will take on Tulsa at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Live results will be available through the GameTracker link at the TulaneGreenWave.com volleyball schedule page.
Tulane will remain on the road for one more match as they will square off against Houston on Nov. 18 before returning home for the final home match of the season on Nov. 22 against East Carolina.
Single-match tickets to all Green Wave 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 Tulane Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE (9283).
