Beach Volleyball

Tulane beach volleyball had a successful spring semester. The team finished 23-14 overall with impressive wins over then-No. 12 Grand Canyon University, then-No. 18 Florida Atlantic University and then-No. 12 Florida International University. While the team was unable to reach the CCSA Conference Championship semifinals, it finished 2-2 in the conference championship, defeating two and giving No. 9 University of South Carolina and FIU quite the scare. Senior Madeline Mertz and sophomore Kaylie McHugh, Tulane’s No. 1 duo, posted a 27-6 regular season record with 10 wins over ranked opponents. It was only fitting that to conclude the season, the pair were named to the CCSA All-Conference Team. While beach volleyball will lose several seniors to eligibility, the future is extremely bright for this up-and-coming squad.

Track and Field

Track and Field has been impressive throughout the spring semester. The spring began with a bang as junior Emmanuel Rotich dominated at the Vanderbilt Invitational in January. Rotich, running his first-ever indoor 3000m event, won the event with a time of 8:03.17. Tulane also had success at both the LSU Bayou Bengal Invite and LSU Twilight Invitational. Freshman Bridgid Selfors won the 3000m in both of these February invites and set a personal record at the Bayou Bengal event. Later that month, Selfors was honored with the American Athletic Conference Female Track Athlete of the Week Award for her performance at the meets. March was also fruitful for the Green Wave, as Emmanuel Rotich set a school record in route to a second-place finish at the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival in Los Angeles. The team is overall relatively young and will be looking for more success for the remainder of this season and into the next.

Baseball

Green Wave baseball has been fairly inconsistent overall in the 2018 season. The team breezed past Wright State University and Lamar University to begin its campaign but had quite a bit of trouble with Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of New Orleans, California State University-Fullerton and Long Beach State University. Tulane seemed to be continuing this dry spell when it began its AAC play with the University of Cincinnati, but as of late seems to be gathering some sort of momentum. The Green Wave won its past two series, in addition to defeating UNO, LSU and Texas Southern University. Going into its upcoming weekend series at the University of Connecticut, the team sits at 20-22. If the Wave can continue building this momentum and maintain consistency on the mound, this 2018 campaign may yet end well.

Women’s Tennis

Women’s tennis had something of a rough season. The team got out to a stumbling start after being swept by both Auburn University and University of California Santa Barbara. After this staggering kickoff weekend, the team began to regain its footing with a series of wins that created hope. This streak came to an end when the team fell to multiple conference opponents. The Green Wave did not give up its faith, and the team came together to win its final four regular series games, taking the Wave to the AAC Championship. The team raged to the quarterfinals, where it ultimately fell short to the University of Central Florida. The team fought long and hard all season to bear the Green Wave name with pride. 

Men’s Tennis:

Men’s tennis season presented a series of ups and downs, which constantly kept Tulane guessing. The team began with a pattern of a win, followed by a loss. The Green Wave finally snapped out of this funk with a win against Michigan State University. In this matchup, the team swept the entire event, 7-0. After this, the tennis team only suffered one loss for the rest of the regular season, even sweeping LSU, 7-0. Continuing into the postseason, the Green Wave triumphed at the AAC Championships, bringing home the first conference men’s tennis win ever for Tulane. The face of the team this season has been Constantin Schmitz, who received the AAC Co-Player of the Year award. The team will continue its hot streak at the NCAA tournament beginning May 11. 

Women’s Bowling

Women’s bowling faced a very tough, yet very productive season. For a period of time, it was the only ranked team on Tulane’s campus, due to a series of top 10 wins in the majority of matches during the regular season. After ending its regular season with a 7th place win at the Stephen F. Austin Invitational, the team continued into the postseason placing 6th at the USBC Sectionals. Finally, the team fell in two matches at the Southland League Bowling Championship. At the banquet preceding the NCAA championship, senior Michelle Ng and freshman Madison McCall received Honorable Mention honors from the National Tenpin Coaches Association. After this remarkable season, the Green Wave should keep its eyes on the lanes next year.