Beach Volleyball Closes Preseason Slate
Nov 15, 2019 | Women's Beach Volleyball
NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane beach volleyball team wrapped up its fall slate of competition last weekend, hosting LSU, TCU, New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday before heading to Baton Rouge for one final preseason tournament.
"This final stand of our fall brought over top-notch teams to our home at White Sands and gave us a perfect opportunity to test ourselves in various ways," head coach Eyal Zimet said. "This will provide us with a wealth of valuable information about the makeup of our team, pairs and chemistry on the sand. We are very proud of how our team responded to the challenges we specifically placed on our path from the beginning of this fall, and feel we grew stronger physically and mentally together during this period."
The Green Wave won 16 total sets against LSU over the weekend, also winning nine sets against TCU, eight sets against Houston Baptist, four sets against UNO and two against Southeastern Louisiana.
Senior Eva Torruella and junior Ashley Delgado were impressive from the No. 1 position on Saturday, defeating LSU 21-18, 21-16 before taking down TCU 21-14, 21-17. The two split their second match against the Horned Frogs, winning the first set 21-11 before falling in the second, 17-21.
The sophomores on court five took down the Tigers at White Sands, as Ellie Leitko and Haley Gibson recorded two wins against LSU, 21-15, 21-14 and 25-23, 21-16.
From the No. 4 spot, freshman Ashton Mares and junior Gabriella Becerra defeated New Orleans twice on the sand, 21-7, 21-18 and 21-7, 21-17. The pair then split one match with LSU, 21-10, 18-21, and two with TCU, 21-17, 20-22 and 21-19, 22-24.
Junior Rio Frohoff teamed up with freshman Samantha Mehlman in the tournament, coming together on court three to earn the victory over Southeastern Louisiana 21-17, 21-17. Senior Tarin Mergener, paired up with sophomore Kilani Daane, fought hard and split two matches with LSU, 16-21, 21-15 and 21-15, 9-21.
Junior Addison Hermstad and freshman Kendall Peters shined on day two in Baton Rouge, defeating TCU 21-19, 21-18 on court two before taking down LSU 21-19, 21-15. The duo also split matches with TCU (17-21, 21-15) and Houston Baptist (21-13, 14-21 and 23-21, 20-22).
From the No. 5 spot, Mergener and Daane defeated LSU 21-19, 21-13, while Leitko and Gibson on court four and Mares and Becerra on court six both split matches with the Tigers, 13-21, 23-21 and 21-19, 16-21.
Frohoff and Mehlman teamed up to beat HBU twice on the sand, 21-14, 21-19 and 21-14, 21-16, while also splitting a match with LSU, 21-18 and 20-22. Torruella and Delgado also earned the convincing win over Houston Baptist, 21-11 and 21-10.
"This past weekend provided us with ample feedback on areas we want to improve on during the final weeks of this semester and into the spring," Zimet added. "We are excited to continue working and pushing the envelope each day on the sand and in the classroom, reaching closer to the best versions of ourselves."
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