Volleyball Hosts key Weekend Against Wichita State, Tulsa

TULANE GREEN WAVE (16-7 OVERALL, 6-4 AMERICAN)
When:	Friday, Nov. 1 \| 7 p.m vs. Wichita State (6-16, 3-7 The American) Sunday, Nov. 3 \| 1 p.m vs. Tulsa (13-10, 6-4 The American)
Where:	New Orleans, La. \| Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse
Watch:	Wichita State Tulsa
Stats:	W ichita State Tulsa
Notes:	Wichita State-Tulsa
Social:	T witter \| Instagram \| Facebook

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Tulane volleyball team returns home this weekend and hosts a pair of important divisional matchups taking on the Wichita State Shockers Friday night and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane Sunday afternoon at Fogelman in Devlin.

A link to live stats and streaming video can be found at the schedule page at TulaneGreenWave.com, as Sunday's contest against Tulsa will have a tape-delayed airing on CST beginning Monday afternoon.

The Green Wave open arguably its biggest weekend of the season sitting at 16-7 on the year and 6-4 in the American Athletic Conference. Tulane is currently in a tie for third place in the west division with the Golden Hurricane, with Tulsa holding the tiebreaker with their win in Oklahoma earlier this month.

With the conference tournament edging closer the team is not only looking to secure its spot as one of the six sides to make the event, but also keeping alive a shot at potentially finishing first in the division with one more match against division-leading Houston looming next weekend in Texas and second-place SMU in two weeks. The Cougars have a one-game lead over the Mustangs and a two-game lead over both the Green Wave and Golden Hurricane.

Last week the team split a pair of conference matches in Florida, earning the eighth sweep of the year coming against the USF Bulls in Tampa, while falling in four sets to the UCF Knights in Orlando two days later at the host site for the 2019 American Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship.

Finally looking like a team coming together at full strength, Tulane has been able to continue hitting at a solid clip while also being one of the tougher defensive teams in the league. The Green Wave have six players with over 100 kills this year, hitting .215 on the season, while having 234.5 blocks as a team and averaging 2.58 per set.

Lexie Douglas leads the team with 250 kills and is averaging 2.75 per set, sporting nine double-doubles and tying for the team lead in service aces with 28. Kayla Dinkins, who currently sits fifth in the nation in blocks and eighth in blocks per set with 127 and 1.46, respectively, is second on the team with 189 kills and 2.17 kills per set.

Freshman Lauryn Green leads the league in hitting percentage with a .346 mark, as last week she was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll after leading the team in blocks and finishing with a hitting percentage of .452.

Tulane continues to have three options at setter, with Amanda Giardina leading the way with 459 assists for a 5.16 assist per set average. Jenna Ibieta has 305 assists and is averaging 4.92 per set, while Taylor Henigsman has 153 and has a mark of 4.64.

Kaylie McHugh leads the back line with 406 digs this season, averaging 4.51 per set. Makala Heidelberg is second with 259 digs and 3.55 digs per set average, while Douglas has 243 and averages 2.67 per set.

The Green Wave will be looking for a much different weekend than the last time when it was on the road to face the two teams, getting a comeback five-set win over the Shockers and a four-set loss to Tulsa at the Reynolds Center.

The win over the Shockers is still the only match this season that the team came back from 2-0 down to win, as Tulane is looking for its first win over Wichita State at home. Against the Golden Hurricane, Tulane is 15-17 all time, looking for its first win over Tulsa since 2017.

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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Volleyball Hosts key Weekend Against Wichita State, Tulsa

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Players Mentioned

Kayla Dinkins

Lexie Douglas

Amanda Giardina

Lauryn Green

Makala Heidelberg

Taylor Henigsman

Jenna Ibieta

Kaylie McHugh

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