Press Release courtesy of Tulane Athletics
Tulane beach volleyball has finalized its 2018 schedule, head coach Wayne Holly announced today.
The regular season, set to begin Saturday, March 3, is comprised of 33 total matches and offers the Green Wave their toughest schedule to date, featuring 12 matches against teams ranked in the most recent AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Top 15 Poll (May 2017) and four more matches against teams that received votes.
Tulane, entering its third season as a member of the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association, will play four top 10 teams – Florida State, LSU, South Carolina and FIU – and face the in-state rival and conference foe Tigers twice in the 2018 slate of competition.
“We’re very excited to be entering our seventh season of competition and our third season in the CCSA,” Holly said. “Since last season, we’ve grown our full-time coaching staff, added tremendous depth to our team and completed the transition to a roster specializing in beach-only athletes. We’re looking forward to a great season of competition and have worked hard to develop a strong schedule that will challenge our team and give us an opportunity to achieve our goals.”
The Green Wave open the season March 3-4 at Fight in the Fort in Fort Worth, Texas, facing host TCU, Arizona State and Cal Poly. Tulane then migrates west March 9-10 for the Stanford Invitational in Stanford, Calif., to play Boise State, San Jose State, host Stanford, Cal and Arizona State.
The road trips continue after the trip out west, as the Green Wave head to the Blazer Beach Duals in Birmingham, Ala., March 16-17, to take on Mercer, Austin Peay, ULM and host and conference opponent UAB. Tulane stays in-state the following weekend, traveling to Baton Rouge for the Tiger Beach Challenge and playing conference foes College of Charleston, FAU and LSU (host), as well as two other opponents – Stetson and Spring Hill.
Tulane closes out the month of March with a trip to Miami to play four conference opponents – FAU, Florida State, Georgia State, FIU (host) – and TCU. The Green Wave play at their home court for the first in the season April 4, hosting ULM in a doubleheader at White Sands Volleyball Courts. The regular season rolls on a few days later when Tulane welcomes Houston Baptist, LSU, Central Arkansas, Grand Canyon and New Orleans for the Green Wave Invitational (April 7-8).
The regular season comes to a close at the Palmetto Invitational in Columbia, S.C., April 13-15, as Tulane travels to play conference opponents College of Charleston and South Carolina (host), in addition to non-conference teams Missouri State and Coastal Carolina.
The CCSA Conference Tournament is set for April 20-22 in Emerson, Ga., while the NCAA Tournament takes place May 4-6 in Gulf Shores, Ala.
This season, the CCSA has five teams ranked in the AVCA Top 15 Poll, including four teams ranked in the top 10. The next best conference in the country is the Pac-12, which has three teams ranked in the top 10.
“Being in the deepest conference in the country is a great benefit that we’re fortunate to enjoy,” Holly said. “Last season, the CCSA put more teams in the NCAA tournament and had more teams in the final AVCA Top 10 and Top 15 polls than any other conference.”
Last spring, Tulane made program history on many different fronts. The Green Wave finished 24-13, good for the most single-season wins in program history, and earned their first-ever wins at the CCSA Conference Championships. As freshman, Kaylie McHugh and Tarin Mergener combined for 54 overall wins, breaking the freshman class record and spurring Holly’s program to its fourth consecutive winning season. Mergener was named to the CCSA All-Tournament Team last season and posted the second-best record on the team at 27-10.
Senior Madeline Mertz, a preseason all-conference selection and a member of the CCSA All-Tournament Team last season, returns this year on the heels of a spring in which she posted a 23-14 record, finishing the 2017 season on a five-match winning streak. Junior Anna Chin, who also returns, played in 20 matches last season, going 11-9 on the year with seven of her wins coming in straight sets.
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