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Sept. 4, 2004

Final Stats

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Junior libero Kelli Dickson posted a career-high 21 digs and senior middle blocker Deva Fowler had a match-best 15 kills as the Tulane University volleyball team defeated Southern Illinois, 3-0, Saturday afternoon in day two of the Kathy Trosclair Memorial Tournament at Fogelman Arena.

After taking the opening stanza with relative ease, 30-18, the Green Wave (3-0) had to battle for every point they earned in the final two games as the Salukis (0-2) refused to back down. But in the end, it was Tulane that would prevail as the ladies in olive and blue pulled out the final two games, 30-26 and 30-25.

"We went through a couple of lulls that we'll have to alleviate later on this season," head coach Betsy Becker said, "but you've got to hand it to Southern Illinois. They're a scrappy team, and I expect them to have a very successful season.

"Kelli came up really big for us today. She was like a backboard defensively. She was steady, dug everything that was within her range, and created a lot of opportunities for our attackers."

The stats were nearly identical for both teams with the exception of service aces where Tulane posted 10 to SIU's two. Dickson had four of the aces, and freshman outside hitter Sarah Weiland was next with three.

Even more impressively, all three of Weiland's aces came in the last serve-receive pattern of the match as she stepped to the stripe with Tulane clinging to a 27-25 advantage. Her first two serves were not returned, inducing Southern Illinois to call a timeout. The break in action did not pay off for the Salukis, however, as senior outside hitter Lindsey Norman posted one of her five kills, and Weiland put the exclamation point on the match with another ace.

"It was nice to see a freshman step up in a pressure situation and put the finishing touches on the match," Becker said. "Sarah is a warrior. From start to finish, she shows the same body language and poise. She got off to a bit of a rough start, but finished strong when we needed her the most."

While Fowler was the only Green Wave player to post double-digit kill totals, Tulane also got solid performances from sophomore right-side hitter Blair Moon and Weiland, who posted eight and seven kills, respectively.

Sophomore right-side hitter Haley Hann paced the Southern Illinois offense with 10 kills, followed by Ashley Savarine and Carrie Shephard with kill totals of seven and six, respectively. Holly Marita led the Saluki defense with 11 digs, and Savarine was close behind with 10.

Tulane returns to action later today when the Green Wave closes out the Kathy Trosclair Memorial Tournament with a 7 p.m. match vs. Georgetown.