Tulane University
(14-7, 2-4American)
SMU
(6-10, 3-3American)
Hansel, Kern and Burcescu Earn Double-Digit Kills in Volleyball's Five-Set Win Over SMU
Oct 12, 2018 | Women's Volleyball
NEW ORLEANSย โย The Tulane volleyball team battled it out on Friday night to defeat SMU in a competitive five-set matchย on its home court.
"That was a great match. We showed a lot of fight tonight," head coach Jim Barnes said of his 390th career win. "We made an adjustment for Erika [Hansel] and it worked very well with her getting 20 kills tonight. We played with a little more balance, but we are still far from playing our best ball. Now we focus on Houston and get our streak to three games."
This marks the first time since 2012 that the Green Wave have defeated the Mustangs.
Junior right side hitter Erika Hansel led Tulane's offense, earning a career-high 20 kills while hitting .364. Senior middle hitter Dayna Kern and freshman outside hitter Yvette Burcescu also tallied double-digit kills in the five-set thriller, with 14 and 11, respectively.
On the defensive end of the court, freshman outside hitter Makala Heidelberg, junior libero Kaylie McHugh and sophomore setter Jenna Ibieta each recorded double-digit digs, with 21, 20 and 13, respectively.
Freshman middleย hitter Kayla Dinkins had a strong performance all-around, hitting eight kills and adding seven blocks in her second career start with the team.
The match-up was a fight from the beginning, with SMU taking the first set with a score of 29-27. The Mustangs were ahead with an initial 15-9 lead, but the Green Wave came back from a timeout with an aggressive momentum that tied the score at 24. Tulane was unable to finish it out, putting SMU ahead with a 1-0 lead.
The Green Wave came out strong in the second set, with a kill from Hansel finishing it out to even the match at 1-1. Tulane led with a score of 17-11, but SMU caught up quickly to tie it at 20. Kills from Hansel, Kern, Heidelberg and Burcescu won it for the Wave, heading into set three with aย one win a piece.
Tulane earned a fast lead in the third set with a score of 11-6, ultimately staying on top for the remainder of the play. A 5-0 run from the visiting team closed the gap to 17-16, but the Green Wave came out with a powerful offenseย after a timeout to stay ahead, takingย the upperย hand in the match with a score of 2-1.
SMU gained an immediate leadย in the fourth set, with a 5-1 score forcing Tulane to call a timeout. A kill from Kern put the Green Wave at 13 points, trailing the Mustangs by two, but was not enough to send the team on a run and take theย lead, with SMU forcing a fifth set with a score of 25-18..
The Green Wave dominated in the final set, earning three blocks and 11 total kills while hitting .476, holding SMU to -.053. Hansel's 20th kill closed the match, solidifying the win for Tulane to put the home team at 2-4 in The American and 14-7 overall on the season.ย
Tulane is set to face Houston on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. The match-up will be broadcast live on Cox Sports Television (CST) on c channel 37 as well as 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.
