Volleyball Defeats ASU, Faces Hard Loss to Georgia Tech to Finish 2-2

Friday, August 31

Atlanta, Ga.

8:30 am

Tulane University

6-1

Alabama State

3-3

Alabama St.

Tulane

Photo by: Parker Waters

Volleyball Defeats ASU, Faces Hard Loss to Georgia Tech to Finish 2-2

Aug 31, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

ATLANTA, Ga. – Tulane volleyball ended day two of the Georgia Tech Invitational with a 1-1 record, sweeping Alabama State (25-16, 25-20, 25-13) in match one and falling to Georgia Tech (25-17, 23-25, 23-25, 23-25) in a hard fought four-set match. The Green Wave finish the weekend with a 2-2 tournament record and a 6-2 record overall.

Junior libero Kaylie McHugh and freshman outside hitter Makala Heidelberg earned spots on the All-Tournament Team, with McHugh tallying 15 digs in the first match and 18 in the second, while Heidelberg earned her second double-double of the weekend against Georgia Tech with 16 kills and 18 digs.

Tulane finished its final tournament match-up against the host team with leading statistics in all categories, posting 62 kills, 60 digs, 18 blocks, a .294 hitting percentage and 82 points, but still fell short to Georgia Tech in a close and gritty competition.

"I'm proud of the team. We played well enough to win and had great effort, great energy and played at a high level," head coach Jim Barnes said. "When you win every statistical category – kills, blocks, digs, aces and points – you expect to win those kind of games. Unfortunately we had some very tough calls at the end of sets two and four that we felt was a difference in the match. It wasn't our play that lost us the game and I'm just proud of the way they played."

The Green Wave had a great performance in set one, creating an energy on the court that kept the Yellow Jackets from gaining control. Heidelberg led the match in kills with seven of Tulane's 16, adding a .500 hitting percentage. Back-to-back kills from senior middle hitter Dayna Kern and Heidelberg put the score at 21-14, ending with a service ace from McHugh to finish the set 25-17.

The Olive and Blue started set two with a five point run, before Georgia Tech caught up to tie the score at 11. The teams continued to exchange leads until tying it up again at 20, 21 and 22, with the Yellow Jackets eventually taking the lead 23-22. A reversed call that determined a blocking error on Tulane put the teams at set point, before an ace from Georgia Tech tied the match up at 1-1.

Maintaining a lead for the entire third set, Tulane posted four blocks, two from outside hitter Lexie Douglas, and fourteen kills to stay on top. An attacking error on Tulane tied the set at 23, with the Yellow Jackets gaining the lead for the first time at set point before finishing with a kill to win it with a score of 25-23.

Georgia Tech started off with a quick three-point run in the final set, with Tulane following behind closely for the remainder of the set. Consecutive kills from outside hitter Yvette Burcescu, who finished with eight in the match, and Heidelberg tightened the gap with a 24-21 score. Two attacking errors on Georgia Tech put the Green Wave behind by one, at 24-23, before a second call was reversed, giving the Yellow Jackets the kill and the match point.

Douglas led the team in kills in the first match of the day, recording nine alongside a .300 hitting percentage. Kern also added six kills to the team statistics, posting a match-leading .667 hitting percentage and two blocks. A five-point run put Tulane ahead early on in the match, while strong Green Wave offense and 12 errors from Alabama State solidified the win in set one.

The two teams exchanged leads consistently throughout the beginning of set two, until Douglas found a way to continuously get the ball down, recording five kills and a .444 hitting percentage to change the momentum of the game and create a gap in the score.

Three kills in a row for the Green Wave from Douglas, senior middle hitter Hannah Shaw and sophomore right side hitter Kristen Thompson started the final set with an intensity that kept the team in the lead. The Olive and Blue held a consistent lead against the Hornets throughout the set, ultimately recording kills from Douglas and Shaw to finish it off for a Tulane win.

"Today we learned how to compete at the top end of your level," Barnes said. "Just putting it all out there, the energy back and forth between the players, they thrived off of eah other in a very hostile environment with some young players on the court, so I'm just really proud of how they competed and looking forward to seeing what they keep doing."

Tulane volleyball will spent a few days at home before hitting the road again on Sept. 7 to compete in the Rutgers Invitational. The Green Wave is set to face Navy in the first match of the tournament on Friday at 12 p.m., followed by match-ups against Rutgers at 3:30 p.m. and Howard the following day at 10 a.m.

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