After coming off a four-set loss on Sunday to the reigning American Athletic Conference champion Central Florida Knights, Green Wave volleyball had an impressive 3-1 comeback to beat the Memphis Tigers inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse on Oct. 15. 

Despite the slow start, the Green Wave prevailed by taking sets two, three and four to improve the team’s record to 12-7 overall and 5-2 in conference play. 

Notable players from the Green Wave include senior Lexie Douglas who hit a new milestone by reaching 4,000 career attacks in the first set and sophomore Mackenzie Martin who wore the libero jersey for the first time in her career. 

Head coach Jim Barnes praised the Green Wave’s improved defense, calling it “the key to us being a great team.” Barnes attributed the win to Martin’s solid play at anchor, as she finished with 22 digs and an ace despite limited game-time experience in the past. 

Despite the impressive victory against the Memphis Tigers, the Green Wave suffered a devastating five-set loss — 25-15, 19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 11-15 —  to the SMU Mustangs at Devlin Fieldhouse on Oct. 17. With this loss, the Green Wave falls to 12-8 overall and 5-3 in AAC play.

Standouts from the Green Wave’s matchup against the Mustangs include Douglas who led the team with 19 kills, just three away from matching her season high, while Kaya Dinkins, Anna Davis and Yvette Burcescu all achieved double digit kills for the Green Wave with 15, 12 and 10, respectively. The star of the game was Martin who finished with 41 digs, the most in Tulane history and the fourth most all-time in an AAC match. 

The Green Wave is now embarking on a series of away games, starting with a stop in Greenville, North Carolina, where they plan to bounce back and capture a win against the East Carolina Pirates on Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. Tulane volleyball will then travel to Cincinnati on Oct. 24 to face the Cincinnati Bearcats and Houston on Oct. 27 to face the Houston Cougars before returning back to New Orleans.