Photo by: Parker Waters
2022 Volleyball Positional Preview: Hitters
Aug 22, 2022 | Women's Volleyball
NEW ORLEANS - The Green Wave will have a bevy of options at their disposal on the offensive side in both returning veterans and newcomers as the 2022 season approaches.
The returners include two seniors Lizzy Stefanov and Mackenzie Martin and sophomore Skyler Bumpers. Of the three, Martin saw the court most in the 2021 season, she played in 43 sets, collecting 20 kills and averaged 2.86 digs per set. Stefanov saw action in 32 sets with 28 kills and 44 digs. Then freshman Bumpers only got in 11 sets in her first season Uptown.
The Green Wave picked up four hitters from the transfer portal in graduate students Kayla Kaiser and Melissa Kolurbasi, senior Amarachi Osuji and red-shirt freshman Ilayda Demirtas. Middle blocker Kaiser spent the past four seasons at Georgia Tech. Posted a career .364 hitting percentage to tie the program record. Prior to Tulane, Kolurbasi attended Kent State University where she made Mid-American Conference appearances in 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2018 Melissa was awarded to the Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Team. Melissa also thrived in academics and was awarded Academic all MAC Team from 2019-2021. Osuji was an outside hitter for coach Michelle Patton at Cal State Riverside from 2019-2021. The last member added to the 2022 squad was Demirtas, she comes to Tulane from the University of Hawaii, before that she won the Izmir Championship in 2019-20 and 2017-18 seasons and placed third in the nation in 2017-18 season and was the runner up in the Izmir Championships in 2018-19, all with Gelisim College Sports Club.
The freshman hitters include middle blocker Sabrina Skyers and outside hitters Ceren Aki and Mackenzie Mahr. Skyers is one of only two middles on the 2022 roster. She comes to Tulane from West Orange, New Jersey, where she is was a three-year volleyball letter winner at Kent Place School. The 6'1 outside hitter was named a NJISAA Prep All-Star during the 2019-2020 season, helping her team win a NJ Prep State Title both her sophomore and senior year. The Green Wave freshman had 104 kills, 51 blocks, 106 digs, 11 assists, 68 service points, 17 aces last season. Aki comes to New Orleans from Malatya, where she attended Adana Gundogdu College. She played outside hitter under head coach Nurettin Hayta and made three playoff appearances. Mahr comes to New Orleans from Dallas, Texas where she was a four-year volleyball letterwinner with a W/L record of 97-24 at Sandra Day O'Connor. She was named District MVP and Offensive MVP during the 2021 season. During her time at Sandra Day O'connor, Mahr was awarded All-State and All-City in 2021 in addition to First Team All-District unanimous in 2020.
Follow Tulane volleyball on social media at @GreenWaveVB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.
WE ARE NOLA BUILT
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.
The returners include two seniors Lizzy Stefanov and Mackenzie Martin and sophomore Skyler Bumpers. Of the three, Martin saw the court most in the 2021 season, she played in 43 sets, collecting 20 kills and averaged 2.86 digs per set. Stefanov saw action in 32 sets with 28 kills and 44 digs. Then freshman Bumpers only got in 11 sets in her first season Uptown.
The Green Wave picked up four hitters from the transfer portal in graduate students Kayla Kaiser and Melissa Kolurbasi, senior Amarachi Osuji and red-shirt freshman Ilayda Demirtas. Middle blocker Kaiser spent the past four seasons at Georgia Tech. Posted a career .364 hitting percentage to tie the program record. Prior to Tulane, Kolurbasi attended Kent State University where she made Mid-American Conference appearances in 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2018 Melissa was awarded to the Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Team. Melissa also thrived in academics and was awarded Academic all MAC Team from 2019-2021. Osuji was an outside hitter for coach Michelle Patton at Cal State Riverside from 2019-2021. The last member added to the 2022 squad was Demirtas, she comes to Tulane from the University of Hawaii, before that she won the Izmir Championship in 2019-20 and 2017-18 seasons and placed third in the nation in 2017-18 season and was the runner up in the Izmir Championships in 2018-19, all with Gelisim College Sports Club.
The freshman hitters include middle blocker Sabrina Skyers and outside hitters Ceren Aki and Mackenzie Mahr. Skyers is one of only two middles on the 2022 roster. She comes to Tulane from West Orange, New Jersey, where she is was a three-year volleyball letter winner at Kent Place School. The 6'1 outside hitter was named a NJISAA Prep All-Star during the 2019-2020 season, helping her team win a NJ Prep State Title both her sophomore and senior year. The Green Wave freshman had 104 kills, 51 blocks, 106 digs, 11 assists, 68 service points, 17 aces last season. Aki comes to New Orleans from Malatya, where she attended Adana Gundogdu College. She played outside hitter under head coach Nurettin Hayta and made three playoff appearances. Mahr comes to New Orleans from Dallas, Texas where she was a four-year volleyball letterwinner with a W/L record of 97-24 at Sandra Day O'Connor. She was named District MVP and Offensive MVP during the 2021 season. During her time at Sandra Day O'connor, Mahr was awarded All-State and All-City in 2021 in addition to First Team All-District unanimous in 2020.
Follow Tulane volleyball on social media at @GreenWaveVB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.
WE ARE NOLA BUILT
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.
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