SENIOR DAY: Tulane Honors Beach Volleyball's Tarin Mergener
May 15, 2020 | Women's Beach Volleyball
EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the next few months, TulaneGreenWave.com will honor the 35 seniors that had their respective collegiate careers cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic through this SENIOR DAY series. We hope you the fans enjoy this series and remember the seniors from the 2020 graduating class.
Four-year member of the beach volleyball team Tarin Mergener made an immediate impact for the Green Wave, demonstrating her skill and leadership from day one. The Midlothian, Texas native was named to the CCSA All-Tournament Team in her first season Uptown following a 3-1 record at the CCSA Conference Championship, becoming part of the first pair at Tulane to earn the distinction. In 2018, Mergener put together a 22-15 record, notching four wins against ranked opponents, later going on to be selected to the 2019 CCSA Preseason All-Conference Team. In her senior year, Mergener went 5-3 from the No. 2 position before going 3-0 from the No. 1 spot to close the season, sweeping her opponent in all eight wins.
Today, we honor Mergener in our SENIOR DAY web series.
Q AND A WITH TARIN MERGENER
What made you want to come to Tulane?
“I chose Tulane because I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and grow. I knew that the education would be top of the line and that would help me post-graduation. The city itself presented countless possibilities of adventure and fun. Most importantly, I had faith that the beach volleyball program would provide me with all of the essential skills I needed to achieve my athletic endeavors and to grow into the young woman I aspire to be. It was a no-brainer."
What is your favorite memory from your time at Tulane?
“I have made so many memories at Tulane that will always hold a special place in my heart. I would have to say my favorite memory was during my sophomore season. Lan Nguyen and I were playing South Carolina at South Carolina on their Senior Day. We lost the first game 11-21. Going into the second game we were down 11-17. Then something in us clicked and we came back and won the second game 24-22, forcing a third set. We were down the third set 11-14, match point for South Carolina, and Lan and I had 5 crazy points in a row and ended up winning the game 16-14. We won the match and our team was going crazy, and more notable, my dad was going nuts. The best part was that the whole match was televised on ESPN and you could hear and see my dad the whole time. Needless to say, it's one of the greatest comebacks I have ever made and I think it's a testament to the power of resiliency. As my dad has always told me, and yelled over and over again after we won that match, ‘never give up.’”
What's next?
“I'm excited to say that I will be returning to Tulane next year to settle some unfinished business. I plan on getting my master's in professional studies in sport studies to help me pursue my dream of working within the sports industry.”
I knew that the education at Tulane would be top of the line and that would help me post-graduation. The city itself presented countless possibilities of adventure and fun. Most importantly, I had faith that the beach volleyball program would provide me with all of the essential skills I needed to achieve my athletic endeavors and to grow into the young woman I aspire to be. It was a no-brainer.- Tarin Mergener
THIS is what an upset win at conference championships looks like! Mertz/Mergener take court 3, 2-1, but Tulane falls on 4. All tied up at 2! pic.twitter.com/7PECGLoqBI
— Tulane Beach Volleyball (@GreenWaveBeach) April 22, 2017
Had so much fun celebrating at last night’s Green Globes!
— Tulane Beach Volleyball (@GreenWaveBeach) April 29, 2019
Kaylie McHugh ?? Player of the Year
Tarin Mergener ?? Leadership Award
So proud of our entire team and all the hard work they put in this season!#RollWave?????? pic.twitter.com/YJ9BThLWNU
Tarin Mergener's Career Bio
2020: Went 5-3 from the No. 2 position in her senior season before going 3-0 from the No. 1 spot to finish the year 8-3 alongside partner Kendall Peters…Swept her opponent in all eight wins in her fourth year in Olive and Blue…Helped Tulane to wins over North Alabama, UAB (RV), Spring Hill College, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Louisiana-Monroe, Texas A&M Kingsville and New Orleans.
2019: Selected to the CCSA Preseason All-Conference Team…Earned a 16-18 record in her third season in New Orleans, going 5-9 from the No. 2 spot, 10-8 from the No. 3 spot and 1-1 from the No. 4 spot…Recorded two wins over ranked opponents, in No. 6 Cal Poly (2/24) and No. 20 TCU (3/30)…Swept her opponent on 14 occasions…Put together a 6-0 record from March 2 to March 9.
2018: Posted a 22-15 record during her sophomore year…earned a 15-9 record from the No. 2 spot…went 7-6 from the No. 3 spot…notched four wins against ranked teams, beating No. 20 FAU (3/25), No. 12 FIU (3/31), No. 20 College of Charleston (4/13) and No. 9 South Carolina…put together a six-game winning streak to end the regular season…swept her opponent 16 times…posted three come-from-behind wins.
2017: Named to the CCSA All-Tournament Team following a 3-1 outing at the 2017 CCSA Conference Championships in Emerson, Georgia with partner Madeline Mertz, Tulane’s first ever pair to earn this distinction…posted the second-best record on the team at 27-10 in her freshman year…played most of the season on court three, where she went 19-2…also went 8-8 in the No. 4 position…went 6-1 with Mertz to close the season on court three, with wins over No. 10 FIU (4/21) and No. 12 South Carolina (4/22), her sole loss to No. 4 Florida State...member of Tulane Athletics 3.0 Club spring 2017.
High School: Prepped at Midlothian High School and played for the Texas Advantage club team...served as the volleyball team captain for her high school and was named the all-district defender/libero of the year and was tabbed to the academic all-district team as well...on the club circuit, led her team to the NVL Beach Global Challenge national championship in the 18U division and received the “Best All-Around Player” award...was invited to the USA Volleyball Beach High Performance Camp and the USA Beach Volleyball High Performance Holiday Camp and also competed in the Championships...guided her club squad to three runner-up performances as well and was named a Lonestar Volleyball Player to Watch...as a junior, was a first-team all-district selection and served as the team captain...helped the club team to a victory at the USA Volleyball North Texas Open Beach Qualifier, a runner-up finish at the USA Volleyball Junior National Indoor 16 Open Division and into the Gold bracket at the AAU Beach Volleyball Nationals.
Personal: Majoring in business.
Remaining Senior Day Schedule
May 16 – Senior Day on Robert Price (Baseball)
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