Volleyball Begins League Play With Memphis, SMU

TULANE GREEN WAVE (10-3 OVERALL, 0-0 AMERICAN)
When:	Friday, Sept. 27 \| 7 p.m vs. Memphis (11-1 Overall, 0-0 SEC) Sunday, Sept. 29 \| 1 p.m vs. SMU (7-3 Overall, 0-0 SEC)
Where:	New Orleans, La. \| Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse
Watch:	Live Video
Stats:	Live Stats
Notes:	Memphis-SMU
Social:	T witter \| Instagram \| Facebook

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Tulane volleyball team returns to the court this weekend, opening American Athletic Conference play this weekend against the Memphis Tigers Friday night at 7 p.m. and against the SMU Mustangs on Sunday at 1 p.m. inside Fogelman in Devlin.

After opening the first four weeks of the season with a string of quality non-conference opponents, the Green Wave take to the second half of the 2019 campaign as one of 12 teams vying for a conference title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament later this year.

The American this season has split the league into an east and west division, with a year-end conference tournament in Orlando in November to determine the league's automatic bid to the postseason. Tulane is in the west along with Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulsa and Wichita State, while the east features Cincinnati, ECU, Temple, UCF, UConn and USF.

The Green Wave will play each division team both home and away, with the squad closing the regular season on the road against the Mustangs and Tigers, while facing a team from the opposite division just once.

Tulane comes into the weekend with a 10-3 overall record, hitting the court last week with wins over Southern Miss and LSU. For the third consecutive season the Green Wave have reached double figure wins before conference play begins, earning a win over the Tigers for the first time since 2009 and against the Golden Eagles for the second consecutive meeting.

Once again Tulane has proven to be a more than capable offensive squad that can score in a variety of ways. Five players are currently averaging over two kills per set, as on the season Tulane is hitting .217 as a group and averaging 13.39 kills per set. The Green Wave have 77 service aces through 14 matches and is averaging 1.57 aces per set.

Leading the team with 132 kills is junior Lexie Douglas, who is averaging 2.69 kills per set, adding 18 services aces to lead the squad and average 2.55 digs per set so far this year. Freshman middle Lauryn Green leads the group in percentage as she is hitting .390 in 38 sets played in her debut season.

Setters Amanda Giardina and Jenna Ibieta are helping power Tulane's 12.29 assists per set season average, as Giardina is averaging 5.23 per set while Ibieta is averaging 5.26.

Defensively, Tulane is holding opponents to a paltry .148 hitting clip in matches, led by its stout force of sophomore Kayla Dinkins at the net. Dinkins, who was named to the league's honor roll earlier this week, is averaging 1.46 blocks per set which ranks in the top 15 in the country, as Tulane as a team has 119 blocks collectively.

Senior Kaylie McHugh leads the team with 223 digs, averaging 4.65 per set as she continues to creep closer to the league record of 2,379.

Memphis has the second most wins of any team in the league after the completion of non-conference play, going 11-1 and having that 11-game winning streak snapped last weekend. SMU is 7-3, taking on Houston Friday night and has marquee wins over TCU, Oral Roberts and Dayton among others.

Tulane swept both meetings against both teams last year, which included defeating the Mustangs for the first time since joining the league in 2014.

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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Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.

Volleyball Begins League Play With Memphis, SMU

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Players Mentioned

Kayla Dinkins

Lexie Douglas

Amanda Giardina

Lauryn Green

Jenna Ibieta

Kaylie McHugh

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