Volleyball Falls in Four to Tulsa

Friday, October 11

Tulsa, OK

7 PM

Tulane University

13-5,4-1AAC

Tulsa

11-7,2-3AAC

Tulane

Tulsa

Photo by: Parker Waters

Oct 11, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

TULSA, Okla. – After a tough start to the night the Tulane volleyball team did what it could to force the Tulsa Golden Hurricane into a long battle, but the Green Wave eventually fell in four sets Friday night 25-20, 20-25, 25-20, 30-28 inside the Reynolds Center.

After dropping the first set, Tulane (13-5, 3-2 The American) rallied to even the match by taking the second. The Green Wave dropped the third set but had a handle on the fourth and looked to push the match to a fifth set. However, Tulsa (11-7, 4-1) stormed back and eventually did enough in the end to clinch the match and stave off playing further.

Sophomore Kayla Dinkins finished the match with 15 kills for Tulane and two blocks, while freshman middle Lauryn Green hit .579 with 13 kills and team-high five blocks. Lexie Douglas earned a double-double with 11 kills and 16 digs.

Jenna Ibieta finished the night with 24 assists and six digs, while Amanda Giardina had 21 assists and six digs for the Green Wave. Kaylie McHugh led the team with 21 digs and chipped in four assists and a service ace.

The opening set was a tale of two halves for the Green Wave rolled into one, as Tulsa opened the match nearly unstoppable offensively hitting over .600 at one point. The Hurricane got to double-digits within the first 14 points of the set, with Tulane calling a timeout down 10-4.

From there, the Green Wave tightened up defensively and were able to find their offensive stride as Tulane roared back to outscore the Hurricane 13-7 to tie the set at 17-17. Tulane took the lead for the first time after a service ace from Ibieta, doing so again after a Hurricane point with a Green kill to go up 19-18.

A 5-0 run for the home side spelled doom for Tulane from that point on with Tulsa taking a 23-19 lead, as the Wave earned two more points before the Hurricane closed out the opener with a 25-20 set victory.

Tulane didn't allow the Hurricane to benefit from the start they had in the first set to open the second, keeping things much closer and not having to close a large gap in points. Trailing 7-4, the Green Wave earned three straight points, capped by a Nicole Levine ace to knot the set at 7-7. Tulsa took the lead back on the next play, but it was short lived as Tulane got hot and scored seven of the next 10 points to go up 14-10 and force the Hurricane into a timeout.

Save for a short run to stave off set point three times late, Tulsa couldn't keep Tulane from winning the set as the Green Wave hit .351 in the frame and tied the match at 1-all with a 25-20-set victory.

Tulane wasn't able to use the momentum from pulling out the second set initially in the third but found ways to get going in the latter half. Three consecutive kills from Green in the set cut the Tulsa lead to 13-11 midway through, but Tulsa rebounded by pulling the next four to go up 17-11 and force the Wave into a timeout.

The Green Wave scored six of the next 10 points to pull within four of the Hurricane down 21-17, but Tulsa just needed to hold serve enough to get the final remaining points to pull out the second with a 25-20 set win to go up 2-1 in the match.

Tulane looked to have a hold on the fourth until a late Hurricane rally sent the set into a frenzied state late. The Green Wave held the lead for most of the set beginning with breaking a 4-4 tie with a three-point swing to go up 7-4.

While the Hurricane managed to tie the set at different points, the opposition couldn't find a way to fully get over the deficit until a 3-0 run with Tulane leading 20-18 did the trick, going up one at 21-20 as Tulane called a timeout.

The set hung on each of the next 17 points, as what followed saw the two sides take brief leads before eventually settling for another tied stalemate.

Tulane initially staved off match point at 24-22 by getting a pair of points to tie the fourth at 24-24. Trading the next four points, Meghan Doyle put one away to put Tulane at set point leading 27-26. Tulsa fired back with the next two points to get to match point at 28-27.

Kristen Thompson's seventh kill of the night tied the set again at 28, but the Green Wave would not be able to extend the match further as Tulsa got a kill and then a Tulane attacking error at the end of a long rally to claim the match at 30-28.

Tulane will close out its three-game conference road trip on Sunday afternoon, taking on the Wichita State Shockers at 1 p.m. inside Koch Arena.

Single-game tickets for the 2019 season 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.

Follow Tulane volleyball on social media at @GreenWaveVB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.

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