USF, UCF up Next for Volleyball This Weekend

TULANE GREEN WAVE (15-6 OVERALL, 5-3 AMERICAN)
When:	Friday, Oct. 25 \| 6 p.m at USF (7-15, 1-7 The American) Sunday, Oct 27 \| 12 p.m at UCF (14-6, 7-1 The American)
Where:	Tampa, Fla. \| The Corral Orlando Fla. \| The Venue at UCF
Watch:	U CF
Stats:	USF U CF
Notes:	USF-UCF
Social:	T witter \| Instagram \| Facebook

NEW ORLEANS, La. – With eight games remaining in the regular season, the Tulane volleyball team opens the second half of American Athletic Conference play this weekend with a two-game swing through the Sunshine State with matchups against the USF Bulls and UCF Knights.

The Green Wave begins the stretch in Tampa with a date against the Bulls at 6 p.m. CT at The Corral Friday evening, moving on to Orlando for Sunday's contest against the Knights at 12 p.m. CT inside The Venue, which will also serve as the site for the league's first conference tournament November 22-24.

Sunday's contest will be streamed online for free on the American Digital Network Facebook and YouTube pages with Mike Lefko and Adam Johnson on the call and Despina Barton serving as the sideline reporter.

With a month until the American Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship, Tulane heads into the stretch run with a 15-6 overall mark and 5-3 record against league opponents. Currently tied with Tulsa for third place in the west division, the Green Wave will be looking to keep pace as one of the six teams to make the event in Orlando, as the top two teams in each division along with the next two best teams regardless of division will qualify for the tournament.

Tulane is coming off of a weekend where it showed its quality, but also how challenging the conference can be after defeating Cincinnati last Friday in three sets, giving the Bearcats their first loss in league play, while falling in five to ECU on Sunday after winning the first two sets.

The Green Wave hit .327 against Cincinnati in the win, the highest hitting percentage for the team this year against any league opponent and the second highest clip for the team in any match this season. However on Sunday, Tulane hit .187 for the match and into 17 ECU blocks after beginning the contest hitting over .400.

The team still finished the week hitting .254 offensively with 13.50 kills per set and 12.50 assists per set, while defensively averaging 14.75 digs and 2.62 blocks per set.

Junior Lexie Douglas finished the pair of matches with a combined 30 kills and averaged 3.75 per set for the Green Wave, as on the season she leads the team with 232 and is averaging 2.76 per set on the year.

Middle Kayla Dinkins continues to be a force at the net as she currently sits second in the nation in total blocks with 122. Her 110 assisted blocks are currently 10^th most in a single year for a Tulane player, while also hitting .299 for the year with 175 kills.

Setters Amanda Giardina and Taylor Henigsman finished with 42 assists each last week, averaging 5.25 per set. Giardina leads the team with 420 assists, followed by Jenna Ibieta with 305 and Henigsman with 115.

Senior Kaylie McHugh is third in The American in total digs with 382, while fourth in the conference in digs per set averaging 4.60. McHugh is now less than 200 digs away from reaching the all-time digs mark in the conference which stands at 2,379.

This weekend will be the only regular season meeting against the Bulls and Knights, as the Green Wave will go into the matches looking for a win over either team for the first time since the 2016 season.

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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Players Mentioned

Kayla Dinkins

Lexie Douglas

Amanda Giardina

Taylor Henigsman

Jenna Ibieta

Kaylie McHugh

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