Green Wave Set for CUSA Championship

Thursday, April 23

Youngsville, LA

1:00 PM

Tulane University

University of South Florida

McKenzie Cutler-Sam O'Connor High Five 2026

Photo by: Parker Waters

Apr 22, 2026 | Women's Beach Volleyball

Watch (Day 1)Live Results vs. USF CUSA Tournament Central Tournament Notes

By: Wyatt Streett

YOUNGSVILLE, La. – The Tulane beach volleyball team will compete for a conference title this weekend at Sugar Beach as the Green Wave travels to Youngsville, Louisiana, for the Conference USA Championship. Tulane is the No. 5 seed in the double-elimination tournament and will open against No. 4 seed South Florida at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow.

Live results for Tulane's opening-round dual can be found here. The entire tournament will be streamed on ESPN+. More information on the tournament can be found on the CUSA tournament central page here.

This will be the second meeting between the Wave and Bulls both this season and ever as this is USF's first official season of beach volleyball. The Bulls won that match-up narrowly, 3-2, in February. Tulane enters the event with a 22-13 overall record and 1-5 CUSA clip. Each conference loss has been by a tight 3-2 score.

The Green Wave is 9-6 all-time in the CUSA Championship since joining the league entering the 2023 campaign. Tulane made it to the championship bout each of the last two seasons, finishing as the runner-up each time.

Molly Trodd and Skylar Ensign lead the Wave with a 27-8 record on the campaign between the top two flights. Playing primarily at No. 1, the duo owns a 15-4 record. Emma Morris and Katie Hansen are 24-11 on the season as the other pair to play primarily at the top flights. They are 14-5 at No. 2. Tawny Ensign and Amirah Ali boast a 17-8 record at the third flight. Morris and Hansen enter the tournament on a heater as the tandem has won their last nine matches, including eight in a row at the second flight. This is their longest win streak of the campaign and one short of the longest by a Tulane pair this season (10, Trodd and Ensign).

Morris and Hansen were named just yesterday as CUSA Co-Pair of the Week with a Florida Atlantic pair. They are the first Tulane pair to notch the weekly honor since 2023 and just the fourth all-time. Additionally, Morris claimed another award on Saturday, April 18, when she was named by the league to the CUSA All-Academic Team.

On Sunday, April 19, Tulane announced that head coach Eyal Zimet's contract is being extended through the 2029-30 academic season. Since his hiring entering the 2020 campaign, Tulane has accrued at least 20 wins every full season with the lone exception being the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The Wave notched a program-record 29 wins last season. Zimet has led Tulane to 155 victories during his time in Uptown.

The Wave hosted the NOLA Classic last weekend at White Sands Volleyball Courts, going 3-2 with losses to No. 20 Arizona and Florida International. Both contests were 3-2. Tulane earned victories over ULM, New Orleans, and Southern Miss.

Should Tulane win its first contest, the Wave will advance to play at 10:00 a.m. on Friday. A loss would move Tulane to the contenders' bracket, where the Wave will play again tomorrow evening at 5:30 p.m. The tournament will culminate with a single-elimination championship dual at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 25.

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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