Volleyball Opens Season at Doubletree Classic

TULANE GREEN WAVE (0-0 OVERALL, 0-0 AMERICAN)
When:	Friday, Aug. 30 \| 11 a.m. vs. UTEP (0-0 Overall, 0-0 C-USA) Friday, Aug. 30 \| 4 p.m. vs. UIW (0-0 Overall, 0-0 Southland) Saturday, Aug. 31 \| 12:30 p.m. vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (0-0 Overall, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Where:	Lafayette, La. \| Earl K. Long Gym (1,121)
Watch:	vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
Stats:	vs. UTEP \| vs. UIW \| vs. ULL
Notes:	D oubletree Classic
Social:	T witter \| Instagram \| Facebook

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The 2019 Tulane volleyball program will kick off its season on Friday morning as the team participates in the Doubletree Classic hosted by Louisiana-Lafayette at Earl K. Long Gym in Lafayette.

The Green Wave will open the event taking on the UTEP Miners at 11 a.m., before playing the UIW Cardinals at 4 p.m. The team will close the tournament on Saturday afternoon against the Ragin' Cajuns at 12:30 p.m.

Tulane opens the season coming off an incredible 2018 that saw the team win 29 games to tie the league record for victories in a single season and is the third-most in school history, rattling off 11-straight at one point. The team parlayed that into a postseason run to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship finals, falling to Iowa State in Ames.

Returning six starters and 14 letterwinners, the Green Wave were picked in the preseason to finish third in the conference, behind UCF and Cincinnati, two teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament a season ago. This season, the league will be split into two divisions and the top six sides at the end of the year will compete in the first conference tournament to earn the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

"What we talked about from day one is that we don't want to repeat what we did before because we're better than that," fourth-year head coach Jim Barnes said. "Our thing is to push the limits each day so that we can reach bigger goals."

Among those returners are two preseason all-conference selections in Erika Hansel and Lexie Douglas, while the squad also returns the 2018 Louisiana Libero of the Year in senior Kaylie McHugh. Makala Heidelberg, the state's top freshman last year, also returns along with a pair of assist-makers in junior Jenna Ibieta and sophomore Taylor Henigsman.

Along the sides the team returns sophomore hitter Yvette Burcescu, while in the middle the team features Kayla Dinkins and Markenzie Benoit.

Last season when Tulane hosted the I-10 Challenge in New Orleans, the Green Wave earned sweeps in all three matches on the weekend against the same three opponents they'll face this year in Lafayette.

Single-game and season 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 Opens Season at Doubletree Classic

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Players Mentioned

Markenzie Benoit

Yvette Burcescu

Kayla Dinkins

Lexie Douglas

Erika Hansel

Makala Heidelberg

Taylor Henigsman

Jenna Ibieta

Kaylie McHugh

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