Tulane University
SMU
Volleyball to Face SMU, Houston in Weekend Series
Oct 11, 2018 | Women's Volleyball
Match Notes
NEW ORLEANSย โย Tulane volleyball looks to earn its first conference win at home this weekend, matching up against SMU (6-9, 3-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Houston (13-7, 0-5) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.
"We had one of our best weeks of practices," head coach Jim Barnes said. "The key for us to beat SMU and Houston is balance. We like how we match up and I like our aggressive mindset that we've trained with the last two weeks."
The Green Wave defeated conference foe Memphis in a 3-1 match on the road last weekend, putting the team at 13-7 overall and 1-4 in the American Athletic Conference, with a 7-2 record on theirย home court.
Tulane maintains its No. 1 position in the conference in opponent hitting percentage with .152 and in blocks with an average of 2.49 per set. The Green Wave check in at second in service aces with 1.55 per set and third in hitting percentage, assists and kills with .224, 12.82 and 13.48, respectively.
Individually, sophomore outside hitter Lexie Douglas leads the team in kills, recording 184 this season with an average of 2.71 per set. Defensively, junior libero Kaylie McHugh tops Tulane's statistics with 32 service aces and 324 digs, ranking second and seventh in the AAC, respectively. Sophomore middle hitter Markenzie Benoit and senior middle hitter Dayna Kern own the top one and two spots in blocks for the Green Wave and for The American, with an average of 1.30 and 1.23 per set.
SMU Mustangs
A 3-0 sweep against Houston in the team's last match puts SMU at No. 6 in The American. The Mustangs have shown strong defense so far this season, standing at third in the conference in blocks with an average of 2.26 per set and in digs with 16.57 per set.
Sophomore middle blocker Lexi Nordmann leads SMU offensively, recording eight kills in the team's sweep over the Cougars last weekend while hitting .800. Nordmann checks in at third in the conference with a hitting percentage of .333.
Houston Cougars
A tough start to conference play puts Houston at No. 11 in the AAC as the team heads into a weekend match-up against Memphis before making their way to New Orleans.ย
The Cougars lead the conference and rank 11th in the nation in service aces this season, with a total of 122 and an average of 1.61 per set, while sitting at third in opponent hitting with a .174 percentage.
Freshman middle blocker Kendall Haywood leads the conference with a hitting percentage of .363 in her first season with the team. Haywood also checks in at No. 6 in the AAC with an average of 1.08 blocks per set.
Series History
The Green Wave and the Mustangs post an even series record at 13 a piece. The teams are also tied on Tulane's home court, going 6-6 since the theirย first meetingย in 2001.
Tulane fell to SMU in both matches last season, 1-3 on the road and 0-3 at home. The last time the Green Wave beat SMU was in November of 2012, with a 3-0 sweep against the Mustangs at home.
Tulane owns a 14-31 series record against Houston, going 9-13 on its home court. The Green Wave played consecutive matches against the Cougars in 2017, falling to Houston 1-3 on the road and in five sets at home.ย
During the 2016 season, Tulane defeated Houston in both showings, with a 3-1 win on the road and a 3-0 sweep in New Orleans.
How to Watch
Green Wave fans are able to access a liveย stream ofย Tulane volleyball's match against SMU on Friday night here.
Sunday afternoon's match against SMU will be broadcast live on Cox Sports Television (CST) on channel 37. For those without access to CST, the competition will also be streamed on ESPN3.
Single-game and season tickets can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging into TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.
Follow Tulane volleyball on social media at @GreenWaveVBย onย Twitter,ย Instagramย andย Facebook. Follow Tulane Athletics onย Twitter,ย Facebookยญ,ย Instagram.
