Nov. 8, 2009

Final Stats |  Quotes

NEW ORLEANS - Sophomore outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic and freshman middle blocker Marija Milosavljevic combined for 24 kills as the Tulane University volleyball team swept Conference USA foe Houston, 3-0, Sunday afternoon at Fogelman Arena.

The Green Wave defense tallied 43 digs and 8.0 blocks on the day to help limit the Cougars to a .029 attack percentage. The win snapped a two-match skid for Tulane, which improves to 16-8 on the year and 11-4 in league play. Houston, meanwhile, falls to 9-21 overall and 6-9 in conference action.

"We played well, especially in defense and blocking," first-year Tulane head volleyball coach Sinisa Momic said. "We came up with some good blocks. Overall, we were pretty steady. The offense was working, everyone was scoring and we hit .231. Basically, we were able to stop Houston's offense and at the same time we were able to keep going. It was tough to come back after two losses in a row, but I thought we did a good job today."

Djurdjevic led all players with 13 kills and chipped in with a pair of aces to finish the day with 15.0 points. Milosavljevic, meanwhile, connected at a .714 clip with 11 kills and just one errors in 14 swings. She also tallied eight block assists to tie Djurdjevic for team-high point honors.

Senior setter Rachel Lindelow led all players with 32 assists and senior outside hitter Ksenija Vlaskovic finished second to Milosavljevic with five block assists. Senior libero Jenn Miller posted a match-best 14 digs while Vlaskovic was next with 10.

The Green Wave opened the match in fine fashion, scoring the first three points and building a 13-8 lead which caused the Cougars to call a timeout. The halt in play did little to stop the Tulane momentum as the advantage swelled as the stanza progressed and the Green Wave cruised to a 13-point win.

Tulane ran out to a 6-1 lead early in the second set, but Houston found a way to get back into the match. While the Green Wave never lost the lead, the Cougars crept within two at 6-4, 9-7, and 21-19. Tulane used a 3-1 rally to make it set point, and following a pair of Houston sideouts, the Green Wave finally closed out the set on a Cougar error to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room at the break.

The momentum of Houston's come-back attempt carried over to the early part of what proved to be the final stanza as the Cougars went up 4-0. Following a Tulane timeout, the Green Wave settled in and used a 6-1 rally to claim a one-point lead they would not relinquish. Houston hung around for a while, but with the score at 11-9 in Tulane's favor, the Green Wave went on a 6-3 rally to create some separation and went on to win by six.

Ingrida Zauere led Houston with 10 kills and Ashley Applequist paced the Cougar defense with 12 digs. Alik Cardosa de Sa had 19 of Houston's 27 assists while Erin Rice led the Cougar front-line defense with three block assists.

The Green Wave return to action on Saturday, Nov. 14, when they close out the 2009 regular-season against UTEP at 1 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. That contest will be the final home game for Tulane seniors Lindelow, Miller, Vlaskovic, Jaye Loyd and Stephanie Stromath, and the quartet will be honored with a special ceremony immediately after the match. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE.

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