Oct. 25, 2009

Final Stats |  Quotes

Box Score in PDF Format

NEW ORLEANS - Junior middle blocker Lindsey Shepard and sophomore outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic combined for 25.5 points, and the Green Wave offense connected at a season-high .370 clip, as the Tulane University volleyball team defeated Conference USA foe Memphis, 3-0, Sunday afternoon at Fogelman Arena.

In a contest that took just an hour and nine minutes to complete, the Green Wave made quick work of the Tigers en route to a 25-14, 25-17, 25-16 victory. The win was the fifth straight for Tulane, which improved to 14-6 on the year and 9-2 in C-USA play. Memphis, meanwhile, fell to 5-21 overall and 1-10 in league action.

The Tulane offense had 36 kills and just nine errors in 73 swings. Outside hitters Djurdjevic and senior Ksenija Vlaskovic combined to hit .593 with 17 kills and just one miscue on 27 tries.

"We stressed that a lot in practice yesterday," first-year Tulane head volleyball coach Sinisa Momic said of his team's attack percentage. "Our left sides were not connecting well enough on huts on the left side and in the back row. That worked better today. We also managed to score a lot of points tipping. The offense worked, our passing was decent and our blocking was still on and off, but that got better as the match went along."

In addition, the Green Wave posted a season-best 10 aces on the day, including four by Djurdjevic and two each by Shepard and senior libero Jenn Miller. Tulane was able to side out 75.5 percent of the time on Sunday and held the Tigers to just 12 real points. Of Memphis' 47 points, 21 came via Green Wave errors.

Shepard led all players with nine kills while Djurdjevic and Vlaskovic tallied eight each. Senior libero Jenn Miller paced the Wave with eight digs and senior setter Rachel Lindelow tallied 26 assists. Tulane posted 6.0 team blocks on the day, including a four block assist-performance by Shepard.

"Lindsey has improved a lot this year," Momic said. "We're playing a different offense this year, and in the 6-2, she wasn't getting set that much. We relied a lot on our outsides and our right-side to score, but if you're running a 5-1, you better have production from both of your middles being productive, as well as your right side. You can't just rely on your outsides to do everything. If Lindsey continues to work hard and improve, I expect a lot from her to not only finish this year strong but play well next year as well."

The match began as a back-and-forth struggle as the two teams traded the first 16 points. Tulane was able to create a bit of separation on kills by Shepard and Djurdjevic at 10-8, and the lead hovered around a pair over the next 10 serves. With Tulane leading 15-13, however, the Green Wave scored six straight and 10 of the frame's final 11 points to cruise to an 11-point win.

The Tigers scored the first point of the second set and led 2-1 early on. Back-to-back Tiger errors gave Tulane a 3-2 lead and the Green Wave never trailed again the rest of the match. The Wave used a 7-0 run to turn an 8-5 game into a 10-point lead and Tulane led by as many as 12 at 22-10. Memphis rallied to cut the deficit to seven at 23-16, but by then, the frame had already been decided.

Tulane scored the first two points of the final stanza and broke 2-2 and 3-3 ties on kills by Vlaskovic. Memphis hung tough for a while and trailed by just a pair at 8-6 before the Green Wave used a 5-0 rally to stretch their lead to seven. Tulane stretched the lead to as many as nine on three occasions and that proved to be the final point differential in the set.

Inglish led Memphis with seven kills and Altrese Hawkins was next with six. Christine Bach tied Lindelow for match-high assist honors with 26, Becky Shaffer had a team-best eight digs, and the trio of Inglish, Carolyn Baker and Rebekah Strickland each had one block assist.

Tulane returns to action on Friday, Oct. 30, when the Green Wave travel to Dallas to take on league foe SMU at 7 p.m. That match is the first of two road contest for the Wave as Tulane will play at Tulsa on Sunday, Nov. 1. From there, Tulane returns to Fogelman Arena for league matches against Rice and Houston on Nov. 6 and Nov. 8, respectively. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE.