Volleyball Sweeps Rutgers, Falls to Navy on Tournament Day One

Friday, September 7

Piscataway, NJ

12 pm

Tulane University

6-3

Navy

5-3

Tulane

Navy

Photo by: Parker Waters

Volleyball Sweeps Rutgers, Falls to Navy on Tournament Day One

Sep 7, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY – Tulane volleyball finished with a 1-1 record on the first day of the Rutgers Invitational, sweeping the host Scarlet Knights to win it 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 28-26) and falling to Navy in a close five-set match (20-25, 25-16, 25-19, 21-25, 6-15), putting the Green Wave at 7-3 on the season.

"I'm proud of how we responded today after match one and attacked Rutgers from the service line. We took them out of their offense and kept up a consistent and aggressive game," head coach Jim Barnes said. "Yvette [Burcescu] had a big game and did some special things for us on the right side. Our setters set a good game and leadership from Kaylie [McHugh] and Lisa [Mordell] made a big difference."

Sophomore outside hitter Lexie Douglas, junior right side hitter Erika Hansel and freshman outside hitter Makala Heidelberg all hit double-digit kills against Navy, recording 10, 12 and 13 respectively. Heidelberg scored her third double-double of the season, adding 16 digs in match one.

Rutgers

The Green Wave started the match with a quick 3-0 lead and stayed ahead for the remainder of set one. Douglas led Tulane in kills with four and a .800 hitting percentage, while also adding four blocks to the team's match total of 20. Sophomore middle hitter Markenzie Benoit also tallied four blocks in the set, marking a career-high of eight total in the match. Tulane hit a five-point run to close out the first set, ending with an attack error against the home team to win it 25-15.

Tulane kept its momentum going in the second set, grabbing a lead right at the start and maintaining it until the end. Freshman outside hitter Yvette Burcescu recorded six kills of six total attacks (1.000 hitting percentage), leading the team offensively while also tallying two blocks on defense. The Green Wave's 6-1 run, ending with a kill from Burcescu, put the team at match point before Hansel finished it with a kill to keep Tulane ahead 2-0.

With a 5-0 run to start the third set and two back-to-back serving aces from senior libero Lisa Mordell, Tulane took a quick lead at 9-4. The Scarlet Knights caught the Green Wave's lead, tying it up at 18 with a 4-0 run. The teams were tied at 23, 24, 25 and 26, until a kill from Douglas put Tulane ahead 27-26 and an attack error from Rutgers ended the match to solidify the sweep.

Navy

Tulane came out quick to start off set one, exchanging leads with Navy until the Mids scored six straight points to take the lead at 13-8. The Green Wave followed up with a 7-1 run, getting ahead with an ace from junior libero Kaylie McHugh that put the score at 15-14. Navy regained its position on top after the teams were tied at 18, scoring its last three points on errors to finish out the set, taking it 25-20.

The Green Wave turned the game around in set two, securing control of the court to grab an 11-0 run to put the score at 17-8. Douglas and Hansel each had four kills, hitting .333 and .375, respectively. A kill from Hansel ended the set with a score of 25-16, tying the match at 1-1.

A kill from Burcescu tied the score at 5 to start the third set, followed by a series of continuous ties to keep an even match-up from start to finish. Navy scored four in a row, getting ahead by three with a score of 16-13, before Tulane went on a 7-1 run to get back on top at 20-17. Back-to-back kills from senior middle hitter Hannah Shaw and Heidelberg, followed by an ace from freshman setter Taylor Henigsman, close out the set to win it for the Green Wave at 25-19.

Set four marked another close match-up between the two teams, with Navy taking the lead on a serving ace to put the score at 15-14. Heidelberg led the team in kills with four and a hitting percentage of .667, while also posting three digs in the fourth set. The Green Wave was unable to regain their lead, falling to the Mids 25-21 and evening the match score at 2-2.

Navy gained a fast lead at the start of the final set, with a serving ace putting the Mids ahead 12-3. Two kills from Heidelberg at the end of the set were not enough for Tulane to bounce back, ending the match with a 3-2 loss in the team's first five-set match of the season.

The Green Wave is set to match up against Howard (5-3) tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., marking Tulane's final preseason non-conference opponent on the road for the 2018 season.

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