Green Wave Sand Volleyball Returns to Action against UAB on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Tulane Athletics will honor the addition of its 16th sport during a pre-match ceremony
New Orleans – The Tulane women’s sand volleyball team will be officially recognized and welcomed as the 16th sport to the Green Wave sports line-up during a pre-match ceremony prior to its contest against UAB on Saturday at Coconut Beach Volleyball Courts at The Dock of Slidell. The match is slated to begin at 4 p.m., and admission is free.
Saturday’s special pre-match ceremony will feature speeches by several Department of Athletics dignitaries and student-athletes to welcome the new program to the Green Wave fold.
The 2012 sand volleyball season not only marks the first year the NCAA officially sponsors the sport, but also the final chapter of Tulane's return to full strength athletically as the Green Wave are fielding 16 sport programs for the first time since 2005-06.
Tulane is 0-1 this season after falling to Florida State, 5-0, in its inaugural match and will be in the hunt for the programs first-ever victory when the Blazers come to town. Like Tulane, UAB fell to Florida State, 5-0, in its season opener.
“I would like to the girls playing with more confidence when they take the courts against UAB,” acting head coach Jaye Loyd said. “We have made positive progress this week in practice and it’s time to transfer that to the court. Coming off our match against Florida State, we learned how competitive this sport is going to be during our first season. We are going to have to work hard every day in practice to get where we want to be.
“UAB will be a great match-up for us. Like our team, they have taken the majority if their sand players from their indoor roster. They haven’t had the opportunity to train in sand since August are probably learning to make similar adjustments.
Each sand volleyball competition will consist of five matches between pairs. The winning team will need to win three matches in a best-of-five format. The separate matches will be conducted as best-of-three-set competitions, with rally scoring to 21 in the first two sets and to 15 in the third. Teams must win by at least two points in all cases.
The Green Wave is one of 15 schools competing in the first season of collegiate sand volleyball. As an emerging sport, sand volleyball has 10 years to gain the minimum of 40 sponsoring institutions for two years in a row, required to be considered an NCAA Championship competition. During the second year of 40 teams, the NCAA will host a national championship.
-TulaneGreenWave.com-
