Volleyball Most Improved Team in the Nation in Inaugural Season of Jim Barnes Era
Dec 2, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
Season Stats
NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane volleyball team played its last match of the 2016 season on Friday, Nov. 25 in a Senior Day match-up against American Athletic Conference foe USF, wrapping up the inaugural season of the Jim Barnes era with the squad's first winning season since 2013 and the title of most improved team in the nation.
"We're immensely proud of the team and the way they worked and treated each other to get this ship turned around in just one season," Barnes said. "Normally it takes a program two or three years to start going in the right direction, but the hard work these ladies put in sped things up. I said from day one that we wanted to make this program the best in the state and competitive in conference, and we have. Now, we want to be able to compete nationally."
Beginning the season with an RPI of 247, the Green Wave broke into the top 100 early on after winning two of their four non-conference tournaments at Southern Miss and Clemson. Tulane would finish the season at the no. 90 spot and in fifth place in the American after back-to-back 11th place finishes in the first two years of the conference.
The Green Wave also got back into the win column in 2016, notching an 18-14 overall record and finishing at an even 10-10 in conference, with more conference and overall victories than in the last two years combined. Tulane also played phenomenally on the road, winning 8 away matches for the third-highest season total in school history.
For the first time since migrating to the American prior to the 2014 season, Tulane saw three players named to All-Conference teams. Junior right-side hitter Sarah Ray was a First Team All-Conference selection, leading the team in kills with 1297 on the year. Early in the season, Ray was named the Offensive Player of the Week after her first week playing from the right side. She also career high 36 kills at Memphis on Oct. 23, the second-highest single-match total in Tulane volleyball history.
"The All-Conference selections are all set up by total team performance," Barnes said. "We always talk about putting the team first, and our team put these three players into position to be this good in conference. Sarah Ray has improved in every statistical category since last year and has proven herself as one of the top players in the league, so her hard work really contributed to the incredible turnaround."
Senior outside hitter Tea Juric and freshman libero Kaylie McHugh both received Second Team Honors from the American for their efforts in the 2016 season. McHugh, the league leader in digs (435) and digs per set (5.30), finished her freshman year with 594 total digs, the second-highest single-season total in school history.
In the final week of regular season play, McHugh was named Defensive Player of the Week after breaking a single-match school record with 37 digs against USF. The match-up against the Bulls also saw 110 team digs, the second-highest single match total in school history, just two less than Tulane's total of 112 at SMU on Oct. 30 that tied a school record.
Juric will graduate with 1533 career kills, the third-highest mark in school history. She holds the same record in total attacks, with 4097 in her four years at Tulane. As a senior, she finished with 340 kills, the second highest on the team, with 962 attempts from the outside. She also finished with 17 double-doubles, one of the highest numbers in the conference.
"Our senior and freshman who received this honor also made huge contributions to the team this year," Barnes said. "We think McHugh is one of the best liberos in the country with a great career ahead of her, and Juric really finished her career on a high note with her leadership."
Juric and McHugh also helped the Green Wave to a single-season high in total digs, as the team recorded 2130 in 130 sets.
The Tulane offense was assisted by junior setter Justine Bowers, who set an American Athletic Conference single-match record against North Dakota on Sept. 9 with 74 assists, the second-highest number in the Tulane record book. Bowers finished her first season at Tulane with a team-leading 1268 assists.
2016 also saw the American's most successful year to date, with six teams in the top 100 RPI and Cincinnati, the conference runner-up, receiving the league's first ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"As this Tulane team has taken their game to a higher level, so has the rest of our league," Barnes said. "We've made the conference better by improving our RPI, and all the teams have improved as well, which is exciting. We'll have better players wanting to be in this league because of that."
The Green Wave will bid farewell to five graduating seniors this year, but Barnes is looking forward to seeing how his underclassmen step up their game as the team prepares for next season.
"We want to continue to build on the foundation the seniors laid down," Barnes said. "We'll be returning ten players and bringing in five newcomers, so it will be a whole new challenge. Everyone has a part in building this program, and we're excited about fighting for a conference championship in the near future."
Tulane Volleyball 2016 Accomplishments
·       Fifth place (10-10) in the American Athletic Conference, improvement over 11th place finishes in both 2014 and 2015
·       Overall record of 18-14, more wins than the last two years combined
·       Most improved team in the country, starting the season at an RPI of 247 and finishing at 90
·       Eight road wins, the third-highest away-match total in school history
·       Three All-American Athletic Conference honorees (Sarah Ray – First Team, Tea Juric and Kaylie McHugh – Second Team)
·       Two preseason tournament sweeps at Southern Miss and Clemson
·       Freshman Kaylie McHugh now sits in the no. 2 spot in single-season digs, recording 594 in her first year with the Green Wave for 4.60 per set, the fourth-highest single-season number in school history
·       McHugh broke a school record with 37 digs against USF on Nov. 25
·       Junior Justine Bowers broke an American Athletic Conference single-match record with 74 assists against North Dakota on Sept. 9, tying for second in school history
·       Junior Sarah Ray totaled 36 kills in an Oct. 29 match-up at Memphis, the second-highest single-match total in school history
·       Team broke a five-set school record with 87 kills against North Dakota on Sept. 9, the second-highest single-match total in school history
·       Team set a five-set school record with 112 digs at SMU on Oct. 30
·       Team recorded the most single-season digs of any other Green Wave squad in school history, with 2130 in 2016
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