Tulane Volleyball Weekly Update
5-4 Overall * 1-0 C-USA
Sept. 20, 2009
The Week That Was: The Tulane University volleyball team enjoyed another solid week as the Green Wave posted their second consecutive 2-1 performance. The Green Wave opened defense of its Conference USA title on Thursday at UTEP and picked up where they left off a year ago with a 3-2 win over the Miners. From there, Tulane dropped a 3-0 decision No. 21 in day one of the Arizona Invitational on Friday in Tucson before rallying from a 2-1 deficit to defeat New Mexico in five on Saturday in the tourney finale. For the week, Tulane averaged 13.08 kills, 12.46 assists, 12.85 digs and 1.54 blocks per set. The Green Wave offense connected at a .214 clip courtesy of 170 kills and 70 errors in 467 swings while allowing their three foes to connect at the exact same rate (155-64-425). Sophomore outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic was one of three Green Wave players to average at least 2.00 kills per set, tallying 3.92 per contest, while senior outside hitter Ksenija Vlaskovic was next with a mark of 3.69. Junior Lindsey Shepard and rookie middle Marija Milosavljevic tied for the team lead with nine blocks each, senior setter Rachel Lindelow led the squad with 11.23 assists per set, and senior libero Jenn Miller headlined the back-row “D” with 3.46 digs per stanza.
Date Opponent Result Score Score-By-Set
Sept. 17 at UTEP
Sept. 19 at No. 21 Arizona L 0-3 21-25, 18-25, 24-26
Sept. 20 vs. New Mexico W 3-2 25-13, 17-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-10 5-4 1-0 2:03 103
Tulane in C-USA Openers: Thursday’s 3-2 victory at UTEP marked the 15th conference opener for Tulane since becoming a charter member of Conference USA in 1995. Since moving from the defunct Metro Conference to C-USA, Tulane is now 8-7 all-time in league openers, including a 3-4 mark on the road. Including the 2005 season, when Tulane opened C-USA play against Rice at Texas A&M, the Wave are 3-5 in league openers played away from Fogelman Arena. Thursday’s match marked the second time the Green Wave opened C-USA play in El Paso and improved to 2-0 in such contests after downing the Miners in four (30-15, 30-24, 25-30, 31-29) on Sept. 12, 2007. The win over the Miners ran Tulane’s C-USA regular-season winning streak to 14. Including the Wave’s three conference tournament wins in the 2008 C-USA Championship, Tulane has now won 17 straight matches against league foes.
Welcome To the Table: The Green Wave welcomed a new face to the line-up on Sunday, and the addition proved to be a difference maker. Making the first start of her collegiate career on Sunday against New Mexico in the Arizona Invitational finale, freshman right-side hitter Milica Jovic played like a seasoned veteran by posting 15 kills and five blocks in Tulane’s 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Lobos. Entering the match with just 11 kills, a .214 attack percentage, 15.0 points and seven blocks in 13 sets of action, Jovic connected at a .682 clip against New Mexico with no errors in 22 swings. She also chipped in with three assists and three digs, and finished with a career-high 17.5 points. For the season, Jovic is now averaging 1.44 kills, 0.67 blocks and 0.33 digs per set in 18 sets.
Vlaskovic, Jovic Named All-Tournament: Despite playing in just two matches over the weekend at the Arizona Invitational, a pair of Tulane standouts claimed a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Senior outside hitter Ksenija Vlaskovic claimed the fifth all-tournament honor of her career after averaging a team-best 4.50 kills and scoring a Green Wave-leading 40.0 points. The native of Pozarevac, Serbia, posted 11 kills, a pair of aces and three digs in Tulane’s 3-0 loss to host and 21st-ranked Arizona on Saturday, and followed that up with by tying a career high with 25 kills to go with an ace, a solo block, three digs and 27.0 points in Saturday’s 3-2 come-back win over New Mexico. Rookie right-side Milica Jovic, meanwhile, came off the bench in Saturday’s match to post four kills in seven swings against the home-standing Wildcats. On Sunday, however, she earned her first career start and proved to be the difference in the match with 15 kills, three assists, three digs and five blocks. For the tournament, Jovic hit an eye-popping .655 with 19 kills and no errors in 29 attempts.
Lindelow Has Another Solid Week: The reigning C-USA Setter of the Week, senior Rachel Lindelow was even better this time around, averaging 11.23 assists per set while helping the Tulane offense connect at a .214 (170-70-467) in a trio of matches away from Fogelman Arena. The native of Mandeville, La., recorded a pair of 50-plus assist contests and two assist/dig double-doubles during the Green Wave’s 2-1 week. In Thursday’s C-USA opener at UTEP, she posted a career-high 59 assists and tied a career-high with 15 digs in Tulane’s 3-2 win over the Miners. Lindelow had 32 assists and 13 digs against the No. 21 Wildcats in the Arizona Invitational on Saturday, and closed out the weekend with a 55-assist effort in the Wave’s 3-2 come-back win over New Mexico. She tallied two kills in each of the first two matches of the week and had one block assist in all three contests. For the season, Lindelow is averaging 10.03 assists and 2.63 digs per set while chipping in with 10 kills, four aces and eight blocks (one solo, seven assists).
What About Djurdjevic: While she was passed over for a spot on the Arizona Invitational All-Tournement Team, sophomore outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic had another stellar week. In Tulane’s three matches, she led the team in kills (51), kills per set (3.92), points (57.5) and service aces (tied with 4) while finishing second in digs (41) and digs per set (3.15). Djurdjevic opened the week with a career outing, posting high-water marks in kills (27) and points (29.5) while recording 19 digs in Tulane’s five-set win at UTEP in the C-USA opener for both teams. She fell a dig shy of another double-double with 13 kills and nine digs against No. 21 Arizona on Saturday before closing out the Arizona Invitational with an 11-kill, 13-dig, 13.0-point performance in the Green Wave’s 3-2 come-from-behind win over New Mexico. For the week, Djurdjevic hit .207 (51-21-145) and chipped in with three assists and five block assists.
On Tap: The Green Wave return to action on Friday, Sept. 25, when Tulane plays host to Conference USA foe Tulsa at 7 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. The match is one of two home contests next weekend as Tulane will battle SMU on Sunday at 1 p.m. Since the Golden Hurricane and Mustangs joined C-USA for the 2005 season, Tulane is a combined 12-5 against next week’s opponents. Both teams swept a pair of matches from Tulane during the 2005 regular season, but Tulane exacted a bit of revenge against Tulsa in that year’s C-USA Tournament with a 3-2 win in the quarterfinals. Since then, Tulane has won six straight against SMU and is 5-1 – including a 3-0 mark in Fogelman Arena – against the Golden Hurricane.
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