Tulane University
University of Southern Mississippi
Beach Volleyball Goes 1-1 on Friday in Tiger Beach Challenge
Mar 22, 2019 | Women's Beach Volleyball
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – The Tulane beach volleyball team (12-8, 5-6 CCSA) went 1-1 on the first day of the Tiger Beach Challenge, defeating Southern Mississippi before falling to No. 4 LSU on Friday.
"Overall, I think we played about even in both of our matches today. We played well against Southern Miss, and I think we ultimately played as well against LSU, but they played us back a lot tougher as the fourth team in the country," head coach Wayne Holly said. "That was probably the difference today. We're going to continue to develop our play into something that's a lot more aggressive in all phases of the game, and once we do that I think we're going to start to see some positive results against some of these better teams in the country. That's our primary focus."
Coming together in the No. 1 position for the first time against Southern Miss, junior Kaylie McHugh and sophomore Addie Hermstad earned a three-set victory over Golden Eagles' Kylie Grande and Lindsey Legg. The pair won the first set, 21-13, before dropping the second, 9-21, and coming back to take the third, 15-11.
Sophomores Lauren Orlich and Rio Frohoff continued with their success on court two, notching the come-from-behind win over Southern Miss' Abbey Wilson and Piper Matsumoto. The pair dropped the first set 21-23 and came back to win the next two in tight, two-point decisions, 21-19 and 16-14.
Junior Tarin Mergener and sophomore Haley Gibson came back together on the sand in the No. 3 spot, defeating Southern Mississippi's Breleigh Favre and Kellie Garraway in straight sets, 21-17 and 21-7.
After dropping the first set 13-21 on court five, sophomore Morgan Esters and freshman Kilani Daane turned the match around to take down Golden Eagles' Jessica Austin and Madison Lawler, with 21-15 and 15-11 scores in sets two and three.
Freshman Ellie Leitko and sophomore Gabriella Becerra were just short of picking up the win from the No. 4 position to solidify the sweep for Tulane, winning the first set 21-18 before dropping the remaining two with close 17-21 and 7-15 scores.
Tulane looks to pick up two more wins on Saturday, taking on North Florida at 12 p.m. before matching up against Spring Hill College at 3:45 p.m. to close out weekend competition.
Tulane 4, Southern Mississippi 1
1. Kaylie McHugh/Addison Hermstad (TU) def. Kylie Grandy/Lindsey Legg (USM) 21-13, 9-21, 15-11
2. Lauren Orlich/Rio Frohoff (TU) def. Abbey Wilson/Piper Matsumoto (USM) 21-23, 21-19, 16-14
3. Tarin Mergener/Haley Gibson (TU) def. Breleigh Favre/Kellie Garraway (USM) 21-17, 21-7
4. Cyan Blackdeer/Olivia Hepworth (USM) def. Ellie Leitko/Gabriella Becerra (TU) 18-21, 21-17, 15-7
5. Morgan Esters/Kilani Daane (TU) def. Jessica Austin/Madison Lawler (USM) 13-21, 21-15, 15-11
No. 4 LSU 5, Tulane 0
1. Kristen Nuss/Claire Coppola (LSU) def. Kaylie McHugh/Addison Hermstad (TUL) 21-15, 21-13
2. Olivia Powers/Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope (LSU) def. Tarin Mergener/Haley Gibson (TUL) 21-18, 21-15
3. Toni Rodriguez/Kelli Agnew (LSU) def. Lauren Orlich/Rio Frohoff (TUL) 21-13, 21-17
4. Taryn Kloth/Maddie Ligon (LSU) def. Ellie Leitko/Gabriella Becerra (TUL) 21-17, 21-13
5. Allison Coens/Hunter Domanski (LSU) def. Morgan Esters/Kilani Daane (TUL) 21-18, 21-14
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