No. 16 Tulane closed out a weekend of stiff competition on Sunday afternoon at Mango’s Beach Volleyball in Baton Rouge, going 1-1 in the fourth and fifth duals of LSU’s Tiger Beach Challenge to finish 2-3 on the weekend. After three weeks of competition, the Green Wave now sit at 10-4 overall and 2-4 against Coastal Collegiate Sports Association schools.
QUOTE
“From an energy and effort standpoint, we got everything that we could get from our players, but we need a lot more than that to compete against the best teams in our conference – and in the country. We need to become better learners, embrace the opportunity of great competition and teach and coach better in order to compete at a high level because against the best is the only measure we have in this program.”
–Head Coach Wayne Holly
TULANE 3, UAB 2
In the second meeting between the two teams this season, the Green Wave snagged their second straight win over the UAB Blazers to open play Sunday morning in day two of the Tiger Beach Challenge.
Tulane came away with straight-set victories on the middle three courts after dropping the first match-up on court five, with No. 4 Tarin Mergener/Annie Shurtz putting the Green Wave back into the win column on easy 21-15 and 21-11 decisions.
Courts three and four also resulted in straight-set Green Wave victories, with No. 3 Briana Correa/Hannah Holmes defeating UAB’s Rachel Evans and Gabbi Moreno 21-11 in set one before fighting for the sweep in a 22-20 set-two decision. No. 2 duo Tea Juric and Kaylie McHugh notched their eleventh win of the season to claim the dual in identical 21-15 decisions over the Blazers.
Tulane played two close sets with UAB on court one, but juniors Madeline Mertz and Lan Nguyen lost a heartbreaker on scores of 21-18 and 22-20 to wrap up the match.
TULANE 1, FIU 4
No. 2 pair of Juric and McHugh continued their winning ways in the finale of the Tiger Beach Challenge, pulling off a match sweep of No. 19 FIU on identical marks of 21-17 in both sets, but the results on court two weren’t enough as the Green Wave fell 1-4 to the Panthers.
Tulane started out with tough back-to-back set scores of 12-21 on court five to give FIU a 1-0 lead in the dual. The Green Wave would play close to the Panthers on court four, but Shurtz and Mergener couldn’t overcome their opponents and fell 18-21, 12-21.
FIU then claimed the dual win on court three despite Holmes and Correa’s battle to a 22-24 final in the second and deciding set.
UP NEXT
The Green Wave make their farthest trip of the season next weekend, traveling to South Carolina for the College of Charleston Beach Classic.
Fans can keep up with the latest in Tulane beach volleyball action by following the program on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
News courtesy of Tulane Athletics.
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