Tulane falls to SMU in The American volleyball opener

DALLAS, TEXAS – Tulane volleyball gave reigning American Athletic Conference champion SMU all it could handle in the in-conference season opener, Friday night in Dallas, Texas, but lost the tightly contested match, 3-1.

The Green Wave now sits at 11-3 overall, 0-1 American.

The Green Wave asserted itself against the back-to-back conference champions in the first set, winning 25-21. Junior middle hitter Dayna Kern led the way for Tulane with four kills (attack percentage of .500), while freshman middle hitter Markenzie Benoit attacked to a clip of .500 percent on two kills. The Green Wave attacked to an overall team percentage of .244, while holding SMU to .100 percent, as sophomore libero Kaylie McHugh tallied seven digs.

SMU and Tulane exchanged leads three times and battled at a tie score on eight occasions, but SMU fought to win the second set, 25-21, and tie the match at 1-1. Tulane’s team attack percentage dropped to .132 in the second set, and eight attach errors slowed the Green Wave’s roll. Benoit drilled four kills (1.000 attack percentage) in the second set, aided by senior setter Justine Bowers’ eight second set assists.

Tulane dropped the third set, 25-22, despite Kern and junior outside hitter Hannah Shaw’s third set attack percentages of .600 and .429, respectively. Tied at 20-20, SMU went on a 5-2 run to close the set and push the Green Wave to the brink of defeat, trailing 2-1.

The Green Wave fought to force a fifth set, but SMU took the tightly contested fourth set, 25-18, to win the match. Kern finished with 10 kills and a .429 attack percentage, while Benoit posted 10 kills and a match-high .444 attack percentage. McHugh tallied 21 digs, a match high, while Bowers totaled 27 assists.

Up Next
Tulane heads to Oklahoma for a 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 24, match against Tulsa (7-6 overall, 1-0 American). Tulsa played Houston, Friday night, winning, 3-1. Last season, the Green Wave earned a hard-fought 3-2 win in its first match-up against Tulsa, Oct. 2, at Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse, before losing 3-1 in the second match-up, Oct. 28 in Tulsa, Okla. Tulsa and Tulane are tied 14-14 in the all-time series.

Season ticket packages for the 2017 season are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE(9283), logging onto TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.

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