Tulane volleyball added a pair of wins and a pair of losses to its record this past weekend as it wrapped up the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Classic in Devlin Fieldhouse, its first home tournament of the season.

The Wave had a strong start to the weekend, overpowering Incarnate State 3-1 in the morning and then sweeping Nicholls State 3-0 in the evening.

“The important thing about confidence is when everyone on the court is giving 100 percent — going for every ball, chasing down balls heading into the bleachers like we saw today,” Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic said of Friday’s performance. “They pumped each other up and it’s hard not to give 100 percent when you’re all of your teammates are doing the same. Today was a great example of just pushing through.”

Though she had been struggling with flu like symptoms the whole week leading up to the Allstate Sugar Bowl, junior hitter Tea Juric battled through to deliver an outstanding performance, notching two double-doubles Friday with 10 kills and 15 digs against Nicholls state and 28 digs and 14 kills against Incarnate State.

Juric had plenty of help from the rest of Tulane’s line-up, which features four true freshmen starters. The wave hit a solid .323 with 38 kills and just eight errors in 93 attacks against Nicholls State.

Saturday did not see the same success for the Wave. After a close match with North Carolina State, in which the Wave fell 3-1, Tulane was swept by the taller and more experienced Texas Christian University.

“It all comes down to consistency.  Can you handle the ball consistently and can you stop a good team that knows how to play? It’s not enough to be almost there. We have to play on a very high level consistently,” Momic said.

Though not the wins the Wave had been looking for, head coach Momic saw the two losses Saturday as valuable learning and growing opportunities.

“We have to compare ourselves in skill to teams like N.C. State and TCU to see what exactly we’re lacking,” Momic said. “We have the physicality. We’re young, but the team chemistry is very good. We have the desire. We’re flying all over the court to get the ball. Now, it’s back to the practice gym to work on skill development.”

Tulane volleyball returns at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, September 18^th when they travel to Beaumont, Texas to open up the Cardinal Classic against Jackson State.