Tulane University
12-4, 0-1
Wichita State
6-6,1-0
Volleyball Falls to Wichita State in Conference Opener
Sep 21, 2018 | Women's Volleyball
WICHITA, KANSAS – Tulane volleyball fell to Wichita State (18-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-19, 12-15) in the team's conference opener on Friday night, forcing a five-set match against the defending AAC champions, but were unable to close it out with a win.
"We had our chances on the road against the top team in the league, but we let it slip away," head coach Jim Barnes said. "The encouraging part is that we did not play well, especially from the service line, but we still took control of the match and had opportunities to win. Erika [Hansel], Lexie [Douglas] and Dayna [Kern] gave us some great offense tonight."
Junior right side hitter Erika Hansel tallied 16 kills in the match while hitting .300, tying her career best to lead the Green Wave on the offensive end of the court. Sophomore outside hitter Lexie Douglas finished right behind Hansel, with 14 kills and a .269 hitting percentage. Senior middle hitter Dayna Kern and freshman Yvette Burcescu were just short of double-digit statistics, each adding nine kills in the five-set competition.
Tulane was off to a slow start in set one, with Wichita State grabbing an early 4-0 run to lead it 6-2. Kills from Kern and sophomore middle hitter Markenzie Benoit gave the Green Wave a 3-0 run to close the gap to 8-6, but Tulane was never able to take the lead, coming up short to lose the first set, 18-25.
The Green Wave brought a different energy in the second set, with fast kills from Hansel and Douglas putting the visiting team ahead with a quick 4-0 lead. Tulane stayed on top for the remainder of the set, recording 14 kills to continue its offensive momentum to finish it out and even the match at 1-1.
The two teams exchanged points at the start of the third set, tying for the first five until a kill from freshman outside hitter Makala Heidelberg put Tulane in the lead. The Shockers picked up a 4-0 run followed by another 6-0 run, putting Wichita State in the lead at 21-9. The Green Wave then scored a 5-1 run to close the gap but were unable to catch up, falling 25-17.
Tulane came back strong in the fourth, taking a quick 10-6 lead with a service ace from freshman setter Taylor Henigsman. Back-to-back kills from Kern kept the Green Wave ahead with a score of 19-11, with two kills from Hansel to give Tulane the win and force a fifth set.
Tulane's hitting power and Wichita State's errors put the Green Wave on top with a 5-1 lead to start the final set. The Shockers bounced back, recording a 4-0 run to even the score at five and forcing Tulane to call a timeout. Tulane and Wichita State exchanged leads for the majority of the fifth set, tying it up at 11, before the Shockers were able to take a 3-0 run that ended with a win.
The Green Wave finished the match with a team hitting percentage of .175, holding the Shockers to .152 while adding 12 blocks and 58 kills.
Tulane is set to match up against Tulsa (8-4) on Sunday at 1 p.m., to close out the team's opening weekend of conference action on the road.
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