Tulane University
1-0,0-0AAC
Southern Miss
-21,00 CUSA
Volleyball Rolls Past Southern Miss to Open Season
Jan 22, 2021 | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, Mississippi โย The Tulane volleyball team (1-0) opened its spring 2021 season with a win as the Green Wave defeated Southern Miss (2-1) in three sets on the road (25-20, 26-24, 25-17).
"The whole team is just grateful to be able to play and be a team and battle together," head coach Jim Barnesย said. "Southern Miss really made us work. They came and played us really hard, but we were anticipating that. Our team showed a lot of teamwork and a veteran type of response to what happened in the game. We really held things together, played aggressively, played smart and found a way to get a 3-0 win."
Senior outside hitterย Lexie Douglasย led the Olive and Blue offensively with 12 kills while hitting .250. Junior right side hitterย Yvette Burcescuย and junior middle hitterย Kayla Dinkinsย had seven kills each, while freshman outside hitterย Mackenzie Martinย had six in her first collegiate competition. Dinkins also led Tulane's offensive with five total blocks and a hitting percentage of .300.
Leading Tulane defensively was junior outside hitterย Makala Heidelberg, who totaled 16 digs. Junior setterย Amanda Giardina, Martin and Douglas each had double-digit digs, totaling 12, 12 and 11, respectively.ย
The Green Wave totaled 41 kills, 66 digs and 10 blocks in the three-set match, holding the Golden Eagles to a .067 hitting clip.
Two quick kills from Burcescu put the Green Wave on the board early with a 2-0 scoreย before the Golden Eagles went on a 6-1 run to take a 6-3 lead. A kill from Martin sparked a 4-0 run from the Olive and Blue, as Dinkins teamed up with Martin and Burcescu for two blocks to put the Wave up 11-9. A 7-0 run from Tulane extended its lead to 19-15, with the team staying ahead for the remainder of the set to close it out and take a 1-0 lead.
The second set was a back and forth game that saw 15 tieย scores and 10 lead changes. Three consecutive kills from Douglas put Tulane on top early, 6-5, before Southern Miss caught up to tie it. A 4-0 run from the Golden Eagles put the home team up 15-11 before the Green Wave went on a 5-1 run of their own to tie the score once again at 16. Two kills from Dinkins led to a 4-0 Green Wave run to put the team up 21-19, before a kill from Douglas and a Southern Miss ball handling error finished it up to give Tulane the 2-0 match advantage.ย
The third and final set started the same way as the second set,ย with constant back and forth points,ย until a 5-0 run from Tulane gave the team some momentum to put the Green Wave on top, 10-5. The Olive and Blue held a steady lead throughout the remainder of the set, before a block from Burcescu and senior middle hitter Mackenzie Benoit at match point solidified the win for the Wave.ย
The Green Wave are back in action on Saturday at 11 a.m. as they take on UNO (0-0, 0-0 Southland) in the Wellness Center to close out their opening weekend in Hattiesburg.
Follow Tulane volleyball on social media at @GreenWaveVBย onย Twitter,ย Instagramย andย Facebook. Follow Tulane Athletics onย Twitter,ย Facebook,ย Instagram.
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