Tulane University
14-10, 6-6AAC
Southern Methodist University*
18-6, 11-1AAC
Volleyball Can't Overcome Early SMU Lead in Road Loss
Oct 30, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
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Final Stats
DALLAS – Looking to pick up the pieces from a road loss to Tulsa on Friday night, the Green Wave volleyball team turned their attention to league-leading SMU, overcoming an initial 0-2 deficit but falling to the Mustangs in five sets on Sunday afternoon in the Moody Coliseum. With the loss, Tulane moves to 13-11 on the year and 5-7 in the American Athletic Conference.
QUOTE
"We gave a tremendous effort and controlled the match a majority of the time, outhitting and out-digging SMU, but we fell just short in the end. Despite the loss, I'm proud of how we played. We have shown that we can beat anybody in the league when we are healthy and play with today's determination. The wins will come."
--Tulane head coach Jim Barnes
HOW IT WAS WON
The first outing of the afternoon proved challenging for Tulane, who matched SMU for the first few points of the game before falling behind to trail for the remainder of the set in a 25-18 loss. Down 0-1 in the match, Tulane opened up the second set on a four-point run and would hold the lead until the midway point of the game, when SMU evened the score up at eight. From there, Tulane would hold a consistent two-point lead until the Mustangs clawed out a 28-26 set-two victory.
Facing a match loss, set three and four would be Tulane's for the taking, as the Green Wave held SMU to 22 points in each game to even the match at two wins apiece. The Tulane women distanced themselves from the opposition by as much as four points in the third set and six points in the fourth, putting together offensive runs early on to secure a fifth-set battle.
The fifth set, Tulane's eleventh of the year, began with a dominating kill by Sarah Ray, but Ray's team-leading offense wasn't enough to overcome a strong SMU team. The Green Wave trailed the Mustangs until tying things up at 11, and a battle for match-point would ensue as the set played to extra points for the second time that afternoon. Tied up at 14 points apiece, SMU would notch two straight to seal the match win.
On the day, freshman libero Kaylic McHugh posted a career-high and match-leading 32 digs, a tie for third place in the Tulane record book. Sophomore middle hitter Dayna Kern also notched a career-high 16 kills, leading the team hitting .389, while junior setter Justine Bowers recorded 60 assists. Junior right side Sarah Ray notched her 13th double-double of the season against SMU, while Bowers and senior outside hitter Tea Juric would also record double digit stats in two categories in the match.
UP NEXT
The Green Wave open up a two-week long home stand next Friday, Nov. 4 with a conference contest against UConn beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.
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