Volleyball Rolls to Sweep of UConn Sunday

Sunday, October 6

Storrs, CT

11 AM

Tulane University

13-4, 2-2AAC

UConn

8-8, 2-2AAC

Tulane

UConn

Photo by: Parker Waters

Oct 6, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

STORRS, Conn. – The Tulane volleyball team bounced back from a disappointing loss at home on Friday by earning a sweep of the UConn Huskies on the road in straight sets Sunday, 25-18, 26-24, 25-15 inside Gampel Pavilion.

The Green Wave (13-4, 3-1 The American) were an efficient force in a host of ways Sunday, hitting .257 as a team at the net, while holding the Huskies (8-8, 2-2) to a .098 hitting percentage after hitting into 11.5 Tulane blocks and 57 total digs.

"I'm just proud of the team and the way they responded. I just couldn't be any more proud of the way we came in focused and really proud of our right-side attack," head coach Jim Barnes said. "Yvette was just in beast mode and Kristen was just equaling her and that's what really kept us going all day was that those two were unstoppable. Lexie got hot as the match went on and that's really what really overwhelmed them."

Yvette Burcescu produced her second straight double-digit kill performance on the weekend as she had 13 to lead all players and hit .370 with four blocks and three digs. Lexie Douglas finished two kills shy of a double-double, earning eight kills on a .300 hitting clip with 11 digs, three blocks and two aces.

Seeing more time in the rotation the last few weeks, Kristen Thompson finished Sunday hitting a scorching .571 with eight kills on 14 swings, with three blocks. Kayla Dinkins led the team with six blocks, adding four kills.

Amanda Giardina finished with 18 assists for Tulane and had eight digs, while Jenna Ibieta had 14 assists with four digs. Senior Kaylie McHugh had 15 digs for the Green Wave, adding six assists and two service aces.

The opening set proved to be a game of runs for the Green Wave, coming at different points of the set as the squad used a 5-0 swing to go from being down 2-0 to leading 5-2. The Huskies wouldn't threaten taking the lead back for the rest of the set, but did make things close, pulling to within one at 9-8 before a block from Green and Thompson made it 10-8.

Outdoing that run was an impressive 10-0 swing that took a tie game at 13-13 into a 23-13 lead for the Green Wave and UConn burning both timeouts. The Huskies netted four consecutive points to end the streak, but Tulane got a pair of Burcescu kills around another UConn point to pull out the first set 25-18.

The second set proved to be a much livelier contest, with both sides growing into the frame as the set grew longer. Both sides were hitting under .100 in the set to start, but both were hitting over .200 by the time the set ended with double figure kills from each side.

There were 12 ties and four lead changes in the second alone, with Tulane having to battle back from two of them as the team trailed 19-18 and 20-19. Kills from Lauryn Green and Thompson gave the Wave the lead back up 21-20, as after a UConn point a kill from Markenzie Benoit and Burcescu made it 23-21 as the Huskies called a timeout.

UConn was able to force extra points after scoring three of the next four to force Tulane into a timeout, but the squad put the set away after another Burcescu kill and an unforced UConn error to take the second set 26-24.

The Huskies opened the third by taking two of the first three points, but the Green Wave rallied to earn five of the next six to go on top 6-3. Following a UConn kill, Tulane got consecutive unforced errors from the Huskies and a big solo block from Burcescu in the middle and called a timeout trailing Tulane 9-4.

Benoit earned her second kill of the match to make it a 15-9 score, and that play helped ignite a torrid run for the Green Wave to see out the match as the team went on to outscore the home side 10-6 to cruise to the third set victory 25-15. Tulane finished the fourth hitting .400, while UConn was held to its lowest percentage of the match at .028.

"We had some players unavailable for this match, some really key players and we were still able to put a team on the floor that sweeps a good UConn team that was coming off sweeping Temple just two days ago," Barnes said. "I just couldn't be more proud of their effort today."

Tulane will remain on the road next week, stepping back into division play as the squad takes on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Friday and the Wichita State Shockers on Sunday.

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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