Tulane Goes 2-1 with a Ranked Win to Open Longhorn Showdown

Friday, April 3

Austin, TX

10:00 AM

Tulane University

University of Texas

Photo by: Kelsey McHugh

Tulane Goes 2-1 with a Ranked Win to Open Longhorn Showdown

Apr 3, 2026 | Women's Beach Volleyball

By: Wyatt Streett

AUSTIN, Texas – The Tulane beach volleyball team notched a pair of victories Friday at Wright-Whitaker Sports Complex across a trio of duals to kick off the Longhorn Showdown, hosted by the University of Texas. The Green Wave fell 5-0 to the third-ranked Longhorns to begin the day before besting No. 19 Washington 4-1 and Houston Christian 5-0. With the results, Tulane moves to 16-9 on the season.

The morning began with a match-up against Texas, which the Longhorns claimed 5-0. Tulane won just one set in the dual as Emma Morris and Katie Hansen pushed their match to three sets at the second flight. After dropping a tight 21-19 first set, they won the second 21-16. However, the Longhorn duo won the final set 15-10. The top flight was a 21-15, 23-21 sweep. At flight three, Texas won 21-11 and 21-17 with wins of 21-14 and 21-9 at flight four. The No. 5 pairing for Tulane fell 21-12 in the first set before dropping a close 21-19 decision in the second set.

The 19^th-ranked Huskies were next for Tulane, who looked to bounce back against another ranked foe. The Wave did just that, winning 4-1 for the program's first ranked triumph since defeating No. 15 Florida Atlantic 3-2 on April 18, 2025. Tulane got ahead early with a sweep at No. 4 by Gigi Gallegos and Avery Burks, who won both sets by a margin of 21-18. The lone three-setter of the contest came at the fifth flight, where the Huskies opened with a 21-19 edge. However, McKenzie Cutler and Sam O'Connor fought back with set wins of 21-15 and 15-11 for the comeback win. At the top flight, Molly Trodd and Skylar Ensign swept via sets of 21-15 and 21-19 to clinch the win for Tulane. Washington's lone victory was the third flight, a 21-19 and 21-16 sweep. Morris and Hansen closed the dual out with their own sweep at No. 2, 21-15 and 21-19, to seal the 4-1 win.

Tulane carried that momentum into the final dual of the day as the Wave faced another set of Huskies in Houston Christian. It was a 5-0 sweep for the Wave, who dropped just sets in the entire dual. Gallegos and Burks kicked things off with a lopsided sweep at the fourth flight, 21-12 and 21-14. At No. 5, Lauren Mann and Gabbi Kucinski fell 21-18 in the first set before responding with a 21-16 win to force the third. The Wave tandem claimed a 15-9 win to push Tulane ahead 2-0 in the dual. Ali and T. Ensign clinched the overall win for Tulane at the third flight, winning set one 21-17 before running away with the second set 21-9. Moving back to the top flight, Morris and Hansen swept with scores of 21-15 and 21-11. At flight two, Trodd and S. Ensign powered their way to a 21-9 first set before dropping the second 21-15. They then claimed the third frame 15-12 to close out the Tulane 5-0 sweep.

The Longhorn Showdown will conclude tomorrow as each team will play just once more. With severe weather and lightning in the Austin forecast, the schedule was already condensed to have all three duals of the round-robin portion played today. Tulane is slated to play its finale of the tournament tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m.

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