Tulane University
27-8
California Baptist University
21-11
Volleyball Advances to NIVC Third Round, Defeats California Baptist 3-1
Nov 30, 2018 | Women's Volleyball
NEW ORLEANSย โย The Tulane Green Wave volleyball team is set to continue with its postseason run, defeating California Baptist in four sets (25-18, 25-15, 22-25, 25-15) to advance to the third round of the Women's National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
"We had such a great team effort tonight, we played like us tonight and that's what was great," head coach Jim Barnes said. "We played much more as a team, we had such a balanced attack. Our setters really had a great night so that's very satisfying just to see us respond after having such a rough match. You have to win ugly when you're fighting for a championship but tonight we played beautifully and I'm just proud of the ladies."
Tulane will host Valparaiso (27-10, 11-7 Missouri Valley) on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse in the program's first-ever trip to the round three of postseason competition.
The Green Wave's offense was unstoppable in Friday night's win, with the team hitting .301. Four players โ senior middle hitter Dayna Kern, freshman outside hitter Makala Heidelberg, sophomore outside hitter Lexie Douglas and freshman outside hitter Yvette Burcescu โ tallied double-digit kills in the match, earning 14, 13, 11 and 11 while hitting .423, .480, .133 and .267, respectively.
Heidelberg earned her 11th career double-double in the victory, also recording 17 digs and one ace. Junior libero Kaylie McHugh and sophomore setter Jenna Ibieta also earned double-doubles in the four-set victory, recording 23 digs and 11 assists and 25 assists and 11 digs, respectively.
Tulane came out strong at the start of the match, hitting .410 in the first set while holding California Baptist to a .175 hitting percentage. Burcescu, Kern and Heidelberg all led the team on the offensive end of the court, each recording four kills to lead the team to a first set win. The teams were all tied up at 18, but a 7-0 run from the Green Wave ended the play and put the home team at a 1-0 match advantage.
The Green Wave continued to dominate heading into set two, hitting .350 while recording 16 team kills. Tulane stayed ahead for the entirety of the second set, eventually earning a ten-point win with a 25-15 score. A 5-1 run, with kills from Kern, Burcescu and Dinkins, closed it out to keep the team ahead with a 2-0 match score.
Tulane was off to a slow start in the third set, with California Baptist gaining an early 9-4 lead. The Lancers stayed ahead for the remainder of the set, with a 6-1 run from the Green Wave making it a two-point game with a 19-21 score, but UCB finished it out to earn s 25-22 win and force a fourth set.
The Green Wave came back out to close the match in the fourth set, hitting .324 while earning 17 team kills. An 8-2 lead, earned by quick kills from Kern, Burcescu, Heidelberg and Hansel, along with a service ace from Heidelberg, got Tulane's momentum going at the start. The Olive and Blue stayed on top for the remainder of the match, with a kill from Heidelberg ending it to avoid a fifth set.
"We're one of eight right now and that's a great feeling in a national tournament," Barnes added of the team's postseason run. "We get to host so were really happy about that, that we get to stay home and prepare and get ready for next Thursday. We're going to do all we can to get the public to come out and see this special team. We need people in here to help us do this."
Tickets to the third round of the NIVC will be sold for $5 and are available here for purchase.
Follow Tulane volleyball on social media at @GreenWaveVB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.
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