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Djurdjevic's 17 Kills Help Lead Volleyball Past Tulsa, 3-1
Oct. 10, 2008
TULSA, Okla. - When Tulane University head volleyball coach Liz Kritza came down for breakfast at the team hotel on Friday morning, the team gave her a bit of a surprise with a rousing rendition of the time-honored song, "Happy Birthday". On Friday evening at the Donald W. Reynolds Center, the Green Wave gave Kritza - who turned 31 today - perhaps the best present they could as Tulane (12-5, 4-1 C-USA) defeated Conference USA foe Tulsa (16-5, 3-3 C-USA), 3-1. Tulane won the first two sets, 25-16 and 25-22, but fell behind early to drop the third set, 25-17. In set four, however, the Wave overcame a slow start to dominate down the stretch and clinch the match with a 25-19 victory. "We're pleased with the victory, but there are moments tonight where both the players and the coaching staff know that we underperformed," Kritza said. "That is to be expected coming off a tough loss, but I like the way we composed ourselves in the fourth set, came back and put it away. Tulsa won the conference tournament last year and they came into tonight with 16 wins, so there is no doubt that Tulsa will compete in this conference. "They struggled at times tonight and I know that one of their big hitters was out, but that is a solid ballclub. Credit Tulsa, though, they made some adjustments and went after some possible weaknesses in our defense and they kept doing it until we made some adjustments. Today was a very good learning match for us. Although I was not completely pleased with every play, I think that this group learned a lot, especially about the momentum of the game and being able to come back after dropping the third set to piece together a 25-19 win in the fourth set." Freshman outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic was one of a season-best five Green Wave players to post double-digit kill totals and led all players with a match-high and career-best 17 kills. She was also one of four Tulane student-athletes to post 10-plus digs on the night to earn her fourth double-double of the year. Senior outside hitter Sara Radosevic, senior right-side hitter Bridget Wells and junior right-side hitter Ksenija Vlaskovic each tallied 12 digs in the win, while senior middle blocker Jen Linder posted 10. Linder also added six block assists and four digs. Junior libero Jenn Miller paced the club with 17 digs. "Hitting .289 as a team and having five players with double-digit kills in a four-set match and scoring 73 points, that was pretty good," Kritza said. "When we have an offensive advantage, we need to be complete free to use it and be completely unafraid to go after it. I think at times tonight, they started understanding that." Tulane got off to a slow start as Tulsa scored the first four points of the match, but the Green Wave used a 7-3 rally to tie the score at 7-all. It was all Tulane the rest of the way as the Wave used a 4-0 run to make it a 15-10 affair and went on a 5-0 rally to end the set. While Tulane won the first set by a comfortable margin, the second set was a back-and-forth struggle. Neither team could take control of the set early on and the teams were deadlocked, 11-11, 22 serves into the stanza. From there, the Green Wave used a 4-1 rally to take a 16-12 advantage, which proved to be the difference in the contest. Tulsa cut the lead to on three occasions, but Tulane responded each time to hold the lead and take a 2-0 lead in the match. The third set was completely different story as the Golden Hurricane stormed out to a 12-3 lead and never looked back. Tulane cut the deficit to five on several occasions, but Tulsa's early run proved to be too much to overcome. Tulsa continued its rally early in the fourth set, jumping out to a 4-1 advantage, but Tulane rallied with an 8-4 run to tie the stanza at 9-all. After essentially trading the next 14 points and with the score tied at 16-16, the Wave scored three straight points to create some breathing room. The Golden Hurricane came back to make it a one-point set at 20-19, but Tulane outscored Tulsa 5-2 the rest of the way to ensure that Kritza indeed had a happy birthday. "Between sets three and four, the team that was out on the floor decided to take some accountability for the level of their play," Kritza said. "They stopped wasting contacts, stopped making unforced errors and they really decided that it was time that they start asserting themselves, setting the tone and setting the level of play in the gym. They need to do this time and again in conference. "Everyone is going to be coming after us. If we can play volleyball at a high level, there is no reason why we should not win, regardless of what the other team is doing. If they are playing well or if they are not playing well, we have to understand that we need to stay in system and play at the highest possible level that we can. They understand that and I said it was their job to do it. It was their match to win, and they took complete accountability to do it." Hannah Stout led Tulsa with 14 kils while Malory Grove paced the Hurricane defense with 18 digs. Tulsa posted 6.0 team blocks on the night, including a one-solo, four-assist performance by Stout and a four-block assist showing by Kelsey Hancock. Rachel Vukson led all players with 44 assists. The Green Wave return to action on Sunday, Oct. 12, when they close out a four-match road swing against SMU at 1 p.m. From there, Tulane returns home on Tuesday, Oct. 14, when the Green Wave play host to cross-town rival UNO at 7 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. That contest is one of three home matches for Tulane during the week as the Wave host C-USA foes East Carolina and Marshall on Friday and Sunday, respectively. For ticket information to those matches, as well as future Green Wave athletic events, contact the Tulane University Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE.
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