Green Wave women’s indoor volleyball (12-6, 4-2 American Athletic Conference) takes home their first conference sweep since Nov. 15, 2013 after a successful trip to Florida this past weekend against UCF (14-5, 4-2 AAC).

According to head coach Jim Barnes, the team had discussed the potential for a sweep in the days leading up to the match because they knew they were capable.

“This win goes all to the ladies,” Barnes said. “They put the pieces together and played like a true team, overcoming every obstacle. I’m immensely proud of the way they competed and didn’t have any excuses about the weather or our change of plans.”

With a seven-point run early in the first set, Tulane built up the momentum to consistently conquer the Knights throughout the weekend.  All three sets were within four to six points of going the other way, as the Wave won both the first and second set 25-21 and the third set 25-19.  

In the second set, Tulane relied on two separate five-point runs to secure the win in a close battle with the Knights.  Trailing 17-24, UCF held off four Tulane set points before ultimately falling to the Wave.  

Despite the larger score disparity, the third set was the closest between the two southern competitors.  UCF had a narrow 7-6 lead until a five-point run by Tulane put them too far back to recover.  

In a post-game press conference, UCF head coach Todd Dagenais congratulated the Wave on their performance.

“I want to congratulate Tulane on playing a flawless match,” Dagenais said. “The fact remains that we walked in today and ran into a team that was not only good but a team that was hungry, that wanted it exponentially more than we did and who proved it on the floor.”

Junior right side Sarah Ray led this impressive performance with 15 kills, her third in a row as the leader in this category. Senior outside hitter Tea Juric contributed ten kills, as did sophomore middle hitter Dayna Kern. On the defensive front, freshman libero Kaylie McHugh led with 19 digs.  

The Wave’s next game will be its annual Pink Game.  Tulane will host East Carolina University at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13 at Devlin Fieldhouse.