Tulane University
Arizona
Sand Volleyball Earns Split In Day 2 Of Arizona Invitational
Mar 7, 2015 | Women's Beach Volleyball
TUCSON, Ariz. - The 15th-ranked Tulane University sand volleyball continued its hot start to the 2015 season by splitting a pair of dual-matches with a sweep of TCU and a 5-0 loss at the hands of No. 16 and host Arizona in the final day of the Arizona Invitational on Saturday at the Arizona Sand Volleyball Courts.
Four of the Green Wave's five wins against the Horned Frogs came in straight sets and outscored TCU by an average of 6.54 points per stanza. While Tulane was blanked in straight sets by the Wildcats in the nightcap, it the Wave were single plays away from sending three frames into a third and final frame. Win the split, Tulane improves to 3-1 on the young season.
"TCU is a young sand program that is very well coached but is just not there yet," Tulane head coach Wayne Holly said. "I was happy to see our players stay focused and perform their skills efficiently to get through the match quickly. We need to consistently execute regardless of who our opponent is and the team did that very well. That shows a lot of maturity and discipline.
"Arizona is a terrific team and is loaded with great athletes. They outplayed us today and my hat is off to them. We're turning the page on a successful weekend and looking forward to our next challenge."
Tulane got a solid start from the bottom of the line-up in Saturday's opener against TCU as junior Courtney Liddle and sophomore Annie Shurtz swept Sarah Grantham and Blaire Pickens 21-14 and 21-9 on Court 4 while the sophomore tandem of Miah Diirell and Sarah Strasner sandwiched 21-17 and 15-12 wins around a 21-17 set-two defeat to stake the Green Wave to a 2-0 lead.
From there, freshmen Lan Nguyen and Maddy Mertz rolled past Natalie Gower and Shane Peters 2-10, 21-17 at the top of the lineup, and the team of sophomore Hannah Holmes and senior Grace Weaver defeated Alexa Heist and Sutton Sunstrum by identical scores in No. 3 action. Sophomore Tea Juric and junior Jackie Wegner, meanwhile, completed the sweep by downing Macy Capen and Ashley Smith on Court 2 by scores of 21-12 and 21-10.
It was a polar-opposite scenario in Tulane's final match of the weekend as Liddle and Shurtz fell to Hayley Devlin and Sarah Seiber (2-19, 21-15) while Emily Kiser and Olivia Macdonald downed Diirell and Strasner on Court 5 (21-16, 21-11). Nguyen and Mertz dropped a hard-fought opening set to Madi Kingdon and Kaitlin Leary, 22-20, and the Wildcat tandem use momentum from the close win to cruise to a 21-5 victory in the second stanza.
Holmes and Weaver fell to Kendall Polan and Rachel Rhoades in set No. 1 of the action on Court 3 and fell just shy of sending the match to a third set following a 26-24 defeat. Juric and Wegner, came up an eyelash short in both sets against Madison and McKendra Witt, falling 21-19 and 24-22.
"Overall, our team played very good volleyball against Arizona and I am happy that we performed as well as we could have this weekend against them - because that is all we can control," Holly added. "Flight 2 was decided by two plays and Flights 1, 3 and 4 were one play from going to a tie-breaking third set. That's significant because we know that we can earn a different result with just some small improvements. That makes training exciting."
The Green Wave return to action on Friday, March 13, when they open play in the Third Annual Tulane Pelican Classic starting at 9 a.m. (CDT) at Coconut Beach in Kenner, La. The action begins with Tulane facing UAB, followed by Spring Hill and New Orleans at 11 a.m., Tulane taking on ULM at 1 p.m., UAB squaring off against Mercer at 3 p.m. and ULM battling Spring Hill at 5 p.m.
The two-day event continues on Saturday as the Green Wave play Mercer and Spring Hill at 9 and 11 a.m., respectively, Mercer facing New Orleans at 1 p.m. and Spring Hill at 3 p.m., and Tulane capping the action with a 5 p.m. battle against UNO.
TULANE GREEN WAVE DEFEAT TCU HORNED FROGS: 5-0
No. 1: Lan Nguyen / Maddy Mertz (TLN) def. Natalie Gower / Shane Peters (TCU) - 21-10, 21-17
No. 2: Tea Juric / Jackie Wegner (TLN) def. Macy Capen / Ashley Smith (TCU) - 21-12, 21-10
No. 3: Hannah Holmes / Grace Weaver (TLN) def. Alexa Heist / Sutton Sunstrum (TCU) - 21-10, 21-17
No. 4: Courtney Liddle / Annie Shurtz (TLN) def. Sarah Grantham / Blaire Pickens (TCU) - 21-14, 21-9
No. 5: Miah Diirell / Sarah Strasner (TLN) def. Sarita Mikala / Mia Swangegan (TCU) - 21-17, 17-21, 15-12
ARIZONA WILDCATS DEFEAT TULANE GREEN WAVE: 5-0
No. 1: Madi Kingdon / Kaitlyn Leary (UA) def. Lan Nguyen / Maddy Mertz (TLN) - 22-20, 21-5
No. 2: Madison Witt / McKendna Witt (UA) def. Tea Juric / Jackie Wegner (TLN) - 21-19, 24-22
No. 3: Kendall Polan / Rachel Rhoades (UA) def. Hannah Holmes / Grace Weaver (TLN) - 21-14, 26-24
No. 4: Hayley Devlin / Sarah Seiber (UA) def. Courtney Liddle / Annie Shurtz (TLN) - 21-19, 21-15
No. 5: Emily Kiser / Olivia Macdonald (UA) def. Miah Diirell / Sarah Strasner (TLN) - 21-16, 21-11
