Green Wave Returns to Action in Lone Star State

Friday, April 3

Austin, TX

10:00 AM

Tulane University

Houston Christian University

Katie Hansen & Emma Morris Action Bayou Beach Duals 2026

Photo by: Wyatt Streett

Green Wave Returns to Action in Lone Star State

Apr 2, 2026 | Women's Beach Volleyball

Watch (Texas)

By: Wyatt Streett

AUSTIN, Texas – After a week of reprieve, the Tulane beach volleyball team is back on the sand this weekend with four duals in the Longhorn Showdown, hosted by Texas at the Wright-Whitaker Sports Complex. The field is deep as Tulane will square off against a pair of ranked foes with the tournament kicking off tomorrow morning.

The Wave will face its highest-ranked opponent of the season in the host Longhorns, who are No. 3 in the country and 16-6. Another top-20 team in No. 19 Washington will be in the event as the Huskies enter at 12-8. Tulane, 14-8, is receiving votes, and the four-team field rounds out with Houston Christian (4-16).

Action begins Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. when Tulane faces Houston Christian, and the Wave will face Texas at 1:00 p.m. Saturday starts off bright and early at 8:00 a.m. with a match-up against Washington. The event utilizes a seeding format for the final wave of duals. Based on the results of the round-robin portion of the tournament, the teams will be seeded with the third and fourth seeds squaring off at 12:00 p.m. The top-two seeds will play for the tournament title at 2:00 p.m.

This weekend will mark Tulane's second meeting with HCU this season. The programs squared off in LSU's Tiger Beach Challenge on February 27 with the Wave securing a 5-0 sweep of the Huskies. Tulane enters the Longhorn Showdown looking for its first ranked triumph of the campaign, entering at 0-4 with at least two chances to notch one this weekend. The Wave's last victory over a ranked squad came on April 18, 2025, by way of a 3-2 home triumph over No. 15 Florida Atlantic.

The event will not have live stats. Only the duals featuring Texas will be streamed on the Longhorn Network.

Leading the Wave this season are Skylar Ensign and Molly Trodd. The tandem is 18-4 on the campaign and a perfect 8-0 since rising to the No. 1 flight. They won their last two matches at No. 2 to own an overall 10-match win streak entering this weekend. One of those victories came against No. 8 Loyola Marymount, which is one of their two ranked wins (No. 12 LSU). Amirah Ali has been impressive as well for the Wave, boasting a 14-8 overall record at the third flight, including a 9-3 mark with Tawny Ensign. The duo have won seven of their last eight matches with the lone loss coming against No. 8 LMU. Katie Hansen and Emma Morris are 13-9 on the season between the first and second flights.

Tulane last competed two weeks ago in the ASICS Classic, hosted by Pepperdine in Malibu, California. The Wave went 3-1 on the weekend with the lone loss coming to the eighth-ranked LMU Lions (4-1). Tulane picked up 3-2 wins over the host Waves and CUI while adding a 5-0 sweep of Vanguard (Calif.). The Wave boasted a seven-dual win streak before falling to the Lions, but overall Tulane has won seven of its last eight contests.

After this weekend's action, Tulane will enter the final stretch of the campaign with just two regular season events remaining. First, the Wave will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, for the Blazer Beach Bash hosted by UAB. The event takes place on April 10 and 11. The Wave then returns home to host the NOLA Classic at White Sands Volleyball Courts April 17 and 18. That will be the final test for Tulane before the Conference USA Championship.

TICKETS
Tickets for the football, volleyball, and men's and women's basketball, and baseball campaigns can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging on to TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.

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