Tulane University
South Carolina
Beach Volleyball Upends No. 19 South Carolina, 3-2
Apr 2, 2016 | Women's Beach Volleyball
| 2016 FIU Surf & Turf Invitational | |
| Dates | Friday, April 1 | Saturday, April 2 |
| Location | Lummus Park | Miami, Fla. |
| Host | Florida International University |
| @GreenWaveBeach | |
| Participants | FAU, FIU, Georgia State, South Carolina, Stetson, Tulane, USC |
| Results | Tulane Matches |
NEW ORLEANS - Tulane's 18th-ranked beach volleyball team completed the 2016 FIU Surf & Turf Invitational by knocking off 19th-ranked South Carolina on Saturday morning in their final match in Miami, Fla.
Tulane (11-10) battled five Top-20 ranked teams and may have dropped four of those contests but was very close to claiming an upset and another key win with a pair of narrow 3-2 losses to No. 9 Stetson and No. 20 FAU. The Green Wave fell in matchups against No. 2 USC and No. 11 FIU.
Today, Tulane's duo of senior Jackie Wegner and junior Tea Juric topped South Carolina's Julia Mannisto and Shannon Williams, 21-18, 21-11, at the No. 1 flight while the Green Wave's No. 2 tandem of sophomores Lan Nguyen and Madeline Mertz took out Sarah Blomgren and Aubrey Ezell, 21-9, 21-12. TU also received an outstanding effort at No. 5 from the freshmen combination of Anna Chin and Briana Correa over Erin Neuenfeldt and Lisa Darby in a come-from-behind three-set thriller, 17-21, 21-11, 15-11.
"Overall we played well against some of the premier programs in the country," Tulane head coach Wayne Holly said. "We got better throughout the event and have become a closer and stronger team for competing in extremely hot and windy conditions over two days.
"The two 3-2 losses to FAU and Stetson were both in the tie-breaking sets where our opponents made just a few more plays than we did. To be within a few plays and to defeat a very good ranked South Carolina team shows the strength of our players and team as a whole."
