Green Wave volleyball looks to rebound after winless weekend at tournament

Maggie O'Rear, Contributing Reporter

Tulane volleyball competed in the University of North Dakota Classic Friday and Saturday, and lost all three of its matches. Its season record now stands at 0-6. The Wave lost 25-17, 25-10, 25-18 to North Dakota and 25-21, 25-16, 25-13 to South Dakota on Friday.

Sophomore outside hitter Tea Juric, who missed the season-opening weekend with an ankle injury, led the Wave with 12 digs and 24 total kills, as she recorded 10 against North Dakota and 14 against South Dakota.

Sophomore setter Lauren Etta tallied 45 total assists, 5 digs and a service ace. Senior libero Grace Weaver and sophomore defensive specialist Makenzie Frieden added 21 and 17, respectively.

Tulane lost 25-10, 25-22, 25-17 Saturday against North Dakota to finish the tournament. The Wave showed improvements in the second set, as it tied the game at 22-22 but was unable to hold off North Dakota.

“At times, we played better,” Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic said. “But compared to North Dakota, our ball control was not a match. We started clicking a little better in game two. We just had a couple of errors at the end but I think that was the best [set] we played at this tournament.”

Freshman right side hitter Sarah Ray recorded her first collegiate double-double with 11 digs and 11 kills. Juric added 9 kils while sophomore middle blocker Sarah Strasner notched 6. Sophomore setter Ally Frank had a career-high of 21 assists.

Juric led the squad defensively with 15 digs and Strasner protected the front-line with a pair of block assists.

The Green Wave has now lost more games this season than it did in all of the 2013-14 campaign when it only lost four games. Nonetheless, Momic did not express concern for the team’s future.

“We’re not necessarily looking at our record,” Momic. “We don’t have everybody with 100 percent health yet. The important thing right now is to understand that the goal is to get better and better every time we play.”

“I think [we’ll] have the talent level too with time, have the team gel and play much better than we’re playing right now,” Momic said.

The Green Wave plays its first home game against Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m. Thursday at Devlin Fielhouse. The match kicks off the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Classic. Tulane will also play Howard on Friday and Florida Atlantic on Saturday.

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