Tulane University
10-3
Little Rock
7-4
Volleyball Goes 2-0 on Day One, Defeats Villanova and Little Rock for Five Straight Wins
Sep 14, 2018 | Women's Volleyball
NEW ORLEANS – Tulane volleyball finished day one of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Classic with two wins, defeating Little Rock in an intense five-set match (25-15, 16-25, 25-22, 26-28, 15-13) before beating Villanova in four sets (25-22, 25-15, 25-27, 25-16) to post an 11-3 record so far in the preseason.
Freshman outside hitter Makala Heidelberg tallied double-doubles in both matches on Friday, adding 13 kills and 14 digs against Little Rock and 11 kills and 21 digs against Villanova. Sophomore setter Jenna Ibieta recorded her first double-double of the season in Tulane's 7 p.m. match, with 29 assists and 15 digs.
"Both teams pushed us today and we responded really well tonight," head coach Jim Barnes said. "I'm really proud of the way we responded because we didn't play very well this morning, but we played great tonight and Villanova's a tough opponent. They really pushed us but we were really on our game and it was nice to see some of our younger players really step up and play well."
Tulane took complete control of the court both offensively and defensively from the start of the team's second match of the day against Villanova. Four players finished with double-digit kills, with sophomore right side hitter Kristen Thompson leading with 14, sophomore outside hitter Lexie Douglas adding 12, Heidelberg recording 11 and senior middle hitter Dayna Kern tallying ten.
Junior libero Kaylie McHugh led the team on the defensive end, posting a team-high 22 digs while also adding two serving aces. Kern stepped up to add seven blocks in the match, with Thompson and sophomore middle hitter Markenzie Benoit each adding five to Tulane's 21 total against the Wildcats. The Green Wave finished the match with 63 total kills, a .218 hitting percentage and 91 digs, holding Villanova to 43, .124 and 77, respectively, in the four-set competition.
Tulane controlled the court defensively in set one against Little Rock, holding the Trojans to an attack percentage of .031 with eight errors and nine kills. Heidelberg added four kills in the set, with sophomore outsider hitter Lexie Douglas recording three and a team-high .600 hitting percentage. Consecutive kills from Heidelberg, junior right side hitter Erika Hansel and Douglas gave the Green Wave a 15-8 lead, holding onto it to finish out the set at 25-15 with a double block from Hansel and senior middle hitter Dayna Kern.
The second set started off as a close fight between the Green Wave and the Trojans, with the score tied at nine early on before Little Rock picked up an 11-0 run to take a ten-point lead at 21-11. A quick 4-1 run from Tulane to finish it off was not enough for the home team to come back from the deficit, falling to Little Rock 16-25 and evening the match score at one.
The Green Wave brought their momentum back in set three, starting it off with a 9-1 advantage and holding the lead for the entire set. Tulane held the Trojans to a .000 attack percentage, with Heidelberg topping the team in kills with four and junior libero Kaylie McHugh adding nine digs. Little Rock went on a 5-0 run to hold Tulane at set point, but an attack error finished it out for the Wave and put Tulane ahead 2-1.
The fourth set brought some back-and-forth action from the teams, with 17 tied scores and five lead changes. Sophomore right side hitter Kristen Thompson led the Olive and Blue with five kills while McHugh marked seven digs, of her total 26 in the match. Tulane and Little Rock were tied at 22 and continued exchanging leads for the remainder of the set until a Trojans kill put the visitors on top to tie the match at two and head into a fifth set.
Tulane grabbed a quick 7-2 to begin the final set, with Thompson going four for five in kills and recording a .600 attack percentage. Little Rock caught Tulane's lead and tied it up at eight after a 7-0 run, but consecutive kills from Thompson finished it out for the Green Wave with a final score of 15-13.
The Green Wave are set to face the Clemson Tigers (9-3) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse, wrapping up the weekend tournament and the team's preseason play.
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.
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