Volleyball Falls to Southeastern Louisiana in Five

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Junior Lexie Douglas had a career-best 21 kills and hit .333 on the night, but the Tulane volleyball team suffered its first defeat of the season on Tuesday, falling to the Southeastern Louisiana Lions inside Fogelman in Devlin in five sets.

Douglas, besting her career high total by three, led all players in the match and netted a double-double as she also finished the night with 15 digs.

The Green Wave were held to a .170 hitting percentage against the Lions (1-3), as the only other player with double figure kills in the match was middle Kayla Dinkins who had 10 kills and hit .429 on the night. As a team, Tulane finished with 13.5 blocks, paced by Dinkins' seven.

Sophomore setter Amanda Giardina finished with 27 assists for the Green Wave, nearly capturing a double-double with nine digs. Senior Kaylie McHugh led all players with 25 digs, while also adding in six assists.

The match was close from the start, featuring 15 ties and six lead changes, the most for any set of the match Tuesday night. The Green Wave had their best hitting set of the contest in the opener, hitting .281 with 12 kills, pace by Douglas' four.

With the set knotted at 18-all, a pair of unforced Lion errors allowed the Green Wave to take a 20-18 lead to force the first SLU timeout. While getting the point out of the break, the Lions would not get to within a point of Tulane for the rest of the set as the squad closed out the match on a 5-2 run to take the set 25-21.

The Lions regrouped in the second set and produced their best hitting set of the night, while Tulane found tough sledding offensively. Southeastern hit .286 with 13 kills, while Tulane hit .091, having one more kill than the Lions, but also having seven more attacking errors than SLU.

Tulane opened the second set well, going on a 5-0 run to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 9-5 lead. However, Southeastern Louisiana weathered the Tulane offensive and held the Green Wave to one more point over the course of the next seven points and re-take the lead going up 11-10.

After being down by as many as three points for much of the next handful of points, Tulane was still fighting in the set, pulling within one at 19-18 and did so again after pushing through a 23-19 Southeastern edge to make it 24-23. However, the Lions got the final point they needed to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 set victory.

Following the intermission, Southeastern Louisiana jumped out to a 4-1 lead early, but lost momentum due to another 4-0 Tulane run to take a 5-4 lead. After trading the next two points, the Green Wave rattled off five of the next six to lead 10-6.

While Tulane would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the set, the Lions put pressure on the squad by tying the game at 16-all. A four-point swing for the Green Wave pushed the team's lead to 20-16, and from there Tulane saw out the set by winning 25-20.

The fourth set proved to be the most thrilling of the night, needing extra points to decide a winner. Looking at set point leading 24-22, Tulane got a kill from Douglas and a bad Lion set to pull within one and forcing an SLU timeout. Out of the break, an attacking error for the visitors tied the game at 24-24.

Of the 10 ties in the match, half were over the course of the final 10 points, with each side briefly holding the lead at one point. A Yvette Burcescu kill tied the match at 28-all, but a service and attacking error on the next two plays ended the set with SLU on top 30-28 and forcing a deciding fifth.

Down 10-8, Tulane went on a 4-1 run to take its third lead of the set leading 12-11. However, Southeastern Louisiana closed out the match by winning the next four points in order to win the set 15-12 and claim the match 3-2.

Tulane will be back in action on Friday, opening the Allstate Sugar Bowl Volleyball Classic against Missouri State at 6 p.m. in Fogelman in Devlin. The three-day tournament features Tulane, Missouri State, Houston Baptist and Ole Miss.

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 Falls to Southeastern Louisiana in Five

Players Mentioned

Yvette Burcescu

Kayla Dinkins

Lexie Douglas

Amanda Giardina

Kaylie McHugh

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