TALLAHASSEE, Fla.– The Tulane volleyball team opened the 2021 Four Points Tallahassee Seminole Volleyball Invitational with a five-set setback to the VCU Rams 25-23, 25-18, 21-25, 23-25 and 9-15 Thursday morning.
The Green Wave (3-1) hit .241 as a group with 54 kills, while defensively holding the Rams (3-1) to a .285 clip after producing six total team blocks and 66 digs in the victory.
Three different players had double-digit kills in the contest, led by freshman Michelle Urquhart who hit .297 with 15 kills. She also accounted for five of Tulane’s 10 aces. Senior Lexie Douglas also chipped in with 12 kills and added three more blocks. Sophomore Anna Davis and senior Danyelle Williams combined for 18 kills. Davis also hit a team-best .364.
Senior Taylor Henigsman led the setters with 27 assists, while freshman Chelsea Harvey added 14 in the back half the match. Junior Jillian Dits totaled 19 digs for Tulane, while sophomore Sophia Ervanian accounted for five.
Tulane turned a 3-0 deficit in the early portion of the first set into a six all tie after back-to-back aces from Williams. From there, the set was a battle, as no team led by more than three points.
The Green Wave made their move down the stretch, as they opened up a 22-18 advantage, which forced a VCU timeout. VCU would string a few more points together at the end of the set, but Tulane totaled 12 kills and three errors to take the opener 25-23.
The second set got out to an aggressive start with eight straight kills that settled the score at four apiece. The Wave broke the ties and went up 7-4 after three consecutive service aces from Michelle Urquhart. Tulane reached double digits first, but VCU rallied with a strong offensive spurt to take a 14-13 lead.
Tulane closed out the set win as it rode a six-point swing, which included two blocks from Douglas. Tulane up 2-0 with the 25-18 set victory.
Set three was an even battle with 13 kills, one block and one ball handling error for both teams. After Tulane pulled ahead 14-10 VCU opted for a time out to cut the momentum. From that point, the score was within one until the last three services. The Rams took the set 25-21 with three straight kills.
VCU jumped out to an early lead in set four with a score of 8-4. The Rams held the lead the entire set despite the Wave tying it up four times. Tulane held their own offensively with 14 kills to VCU’s 13.
The final set got away quickly. The Wave never had the lead and didn’t perform offensively. Tulane tallied only four kills in the set with no block. After the Wave went down 5-1 to start the set they could never edge back. Tulane got within two after two back-to-back errors from the Rams. It wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit.
The Green Wave will be back in action on Friday night, taking on tournament host Florida State at 5:30 p.m. at Tully Gym.
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