Tulane University
4-5,0-0AAC
UTRGV (at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)
5-4,0-0WAC
Volleyball Leaves Corpus Christi With a Win Over UTRGV
Sep 10, 2023 | Women's Volleyball
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX- On the final day of the Islander Classic, the Green Wave volleyball team defeated a talented UTRGV team 3-1.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter, Ilayda Demirtas, had a career-best performance offensively and led Tulane in kills. She finished the match with 18. Graduate middle blocker, Orsula Staka also had an impressive performance. She finished the match with 11 kills and a season-best .556 hit percentage.
Defensively, the Green Wave was led by graduate libero Lauryn Burrows and Staka. Burrows had 19 digs and Staka had one block and seven assisted blocks.
Tulane started off the first set hot. In the first play of the set, freshman outside hitter, Avery Burks and sophomore middle blocker, Sabrina Skyers put the Green Wave on the board first. Tulane ended up going on a 4-0 run and led UTRGV by three or more points for the remainder of the set.
The second set was a close, back-and-forth battle between the two teams. Tulane got on the board first but UTRGV had an answer for every Tulane point. The set consisted of 12 ties and neither team trailed by more than three points. Demirtas hit a service ace to give the Green Wave the lead at 23-22 but UTRGV had answers and took the set 26-24.
The third set was another close battle. UTRGV carried their momentum over from the second set and went up 4-1 early. UTRGV was leading with the Green Wave nipping at their heels. A block from Demirtas and Skyers tied the Green Wave up at 8-8. The remainder of the set brought four more ties and the Green Wave trading leads with UTRGV. Tulane ended up on top, 25-23, thanks to a block from Burks and Staka.
The Green Wave struck first again in the fourth set thanks to a quick kill from graduate outside hitter, Amarachi Osuji. Energized and confident, Tulane ran the score up 8-3 pretty quickly and remained in the lead for the remainder of the set. Despite a 4-0 run and a comeback attempt from UTRGV at 20-18, the Green Wave held their lead and came out on top, 25-21.
Demirtas and Burrows were both named to the Islanders Classic All-Tournament team. Demirtas finished the weekend with 39 kills, .308 hit percentage, eight assisted blocks, and a service ace. Burrows had 5.91 digs per set and three service aces.
Tulane will be back home on Thursday at 6:30 when they take on Clemson University in the Tulane Invitational.
Follow Tulane volleyball on social media at @GreenWaveVB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.
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