Tulane University
10-10,7-4AAC
RV UCF
15-1,9-0AAC
Volleyball Falls to RV UCF in Five-Set Battle in AAC Semifinal
Apr 2, 2021 | Women's Volleyball
Spring 2021 Season Stats
CINCINNATI — The Tulane volleyball team (10-10, 7-4 AAC) dropped a five-set battle (25-19, 21-25, 24-26, 25-22, 9-15) to RV UCF (15-1, 9-0 AAC) on Friday in the American Athletic Conference semifinal, closing the team's 2021 spring season.
"We played aggressive and had big chances to put UCF away. UCF hadn't dropped but one set in conference play because they are a veteran team," head coach Jim Barnes said. "With some great leadership from our seniors and great play by our three freshmen, we are proud of our play today. This team has been one of the most impressive teams I've coached because of what they have overcome. My staff with Brian [Yale], Sarah [Strasner], Eric [Beyer], Jenny [Edwards] and Maggie [McEvilly] have been phenomenal."
The No. 2 West seed Green Wave held the No. 1 East seed Knights to a .154 hitting clip in the match, UCF's lowest attack percentage all season.
Senior outside hitter Lexie Douglas led the way for the Green Wave in the postseason battle, recording 17 kills while hitting .318. Also totaling double-digit kills was freshman middle hitter Anna Davis with 12, freshman outside hitter Mackenzie Martin with 11 and junior middle hitter Kayla Dinkins with 10. Martin earned her eighth double-double in her first season Uptown, also adding 24 digs, while Dinkins was a force at the night with five total blocks.
Helping pace the Olive and Blue's offense was junior setter Taylor Henigsman with 52 assists, also adding 11 digs for a double-double. Freshman libero Sophia Ervanian notched 23 digs, while sophomore defensive specialist Jillian Dits added 18 and senior defensive specialist Mia Primavera added 13.
Tulane was on fire in the first set, hitting .419 as a team while holding UCF to a .085 hitting clip. The Green Wave took a three-point lead to break away from a tie, moving to 9-6, before back-to-back blocks put the Olive and Blue ahead 15-11 at the media timeout. A kill from junior right side hitter Yvette Burcescu was followed by a UCF attack error to force a Knights timeout with Tulane ahead 21-15, before a kill from Davis put the Green Wave at match point and one from Douglas finished it out at 25-19 to give Tulane a 1-0 match lead.
UCF jumped out to a 9-2 lead to start the second set before a 6-1 Green Wave run closed the gap to two at 9-11. Tulane was trailing by one until a 3-0 Olive and Blue run, with kills from Douglas and Burcescu and a block from Douglas and Dinkins put Tulane ahead, 20-19. A kill from Douglas kept the Green Wave ahead by one, at 21-10, before a 5-0 Knights run closed it out at 25-21 to even the match at 1-1.
The third set was a battle between both teams, with Tulane taking a five-point lead after a 6-1 run put Tulane ahead 14-9. The Green Wave stayed on top until UCF tied the score at 21-21. A kill from Douglas was followed by a Knights ball handling error to put the Olive and Blue at set point, leading 24-22, but UCF ended on a 4-0 run to force extra points and finish it at 26-24, taking a 2-1 match advantage.
A 4-0 run put the Green Wave up 7-3 to start the fourth set while a second 4-0 run kept Tulane ahead 14-9. Back-to-back kills from Douglas and Dinkins were followed by a block from Dinkins and Henigsman, making it a seven-point game with the Olive and Blue leading 18-11. The Knights went on to close the gap to two, with Tulane leading 24-22, before a kill from Davis forced a fifth-set tiebreaker with a Green Wave 25-22 win.
UCF took a 7-2 lead to start the fifth and final set, before kills from Dinkins and Martin were followed by a Knights attack error to close the gap to two at 6-8. UCF held on throughout the remainder of the set, closing it out with two kills at the end to finish it at 15-9 and take the 3-2 match win.
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