2019 Volleyball Positional Preview: Hitters

The first in a three-part look at the 2019 Tulane volleyball team.

After making a run to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship final in 2018, the Tulane volleyball team will be gunning for more in 2019, and one area where the squad will be looking to continue to show its overall strength and depth will be in its offensive attack.

With much of that same group returning for this season, the Green Wave will have a bevy of options at their disposal in returning veterans and newcomers as the season approaches.

Leading the way is senior right-side hitter Erika Hansel. The returning unanimous All-American Athletic Conference selection from last season finished second on the Green Wave roster with 351 total kills, averaging 2.66 kills per set, while leading the team with 392.5 points.

Playing in 129 sets and 36 matches last year, sophomore Yvette Burcescu totaled 260 kills to stand at fifth on the team in that category, averaging 2.02 per set. She finished second on the Green Wave roster with 98 total blocks with an average of 0.76 per set.

Returning for her junior season is Louisiana native Kristen Thompson, who played in 12 matches and 31 total sets as a sophomore in 2018, before sustaining an injury that kept her out for the remainder of the season. Before the injury she was averaging 2.00 kills per set while hitting .237.

A preseason all-conference selection at outside hitter is junior Lexie Douglas, the Plano, Texas, product who led Tulane with 352 total kills, averaging 2.55 per set last season. Douglas had 17 matches with double-digit kills, hitting .227 in 2018.

Once again, Tulane was able to boast the top freshman volleyball player in the state of Louisiana in Florida native Makala Heidelberg. Now a sophomore, she played in 140 sets in 38 matches in her first season in New Orleans with 293 total kills, averaging 2.09 per set, while finishing second on the team with 534 digs.

Also returning is senior hitter Meghan Doyle, who made six appearances for the squad with 21 digs with eight coming against UIW.

One of the first newcomers to the squad is freshman Lizzy Stefanov, a two-sport four-year letterwinner from Silver Lake, Ohio. Stefanov was an all-league and all-district honoree each year since her freshman year, as well as earning all-state honors during her sophomore and junior years.

A returning anchor in the middle is sophomore Kayla Dinkins, who played in 24 total team matches towards the middle of the season. In just 79 sets, Dinkins had 127 kills, averaging 1.61 per set, while hitting .256, along with adding 79 total blocks.

Junior Markenzie Benoit had 106 kills in 20 matches last season, recording 70 total blocks, leading the team with an average of 1.27 per set. She tied her career high of 12 kills against Louisiana-Lafayette, while having eight blocks against Rutgers.

Another freshman added to the mix is Lauryn Green, a native of Forney, Texas. Green was a four-year letterwinner at Bishop Lynch High School, earning all-district and all-state honors as sophomore and junior, being named team captain as a senior.

The final freshman to the group is Californian Oona Bruss. A 6-3 middle from Berkeley High School, Bruss led the Yellowjackets as the team captain during her junior and senior years, helping her team to a second-place league finish and second-round state playoff appearance in her final season.

Players Mentioned

Markenzie Benoit

Oona Bruss

Yvette Burcescu

Kayla Dinkins

Lexie Douglas

Meghan Doyle

Lauryn Green

Erika Hansel

Makala Heidelberg

Lizzy Stefanov

Kristen Thompson

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