Nov. 12, 2004

Final Stats

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Senior outside hitter Anastasia Kenon, freshman setter Brittany Esser and rookie right-side hitter Sarah Weiland all posted double-doubles as the Tulane University volleyball team posted a 3-0 win over Conference USA foe UAB Friday evening at Fogelman Arena.

The Green Wave used a balanced attack as three players tallied double-digit kill totals and a trio had 10-plus digs en route to a 30-21, 30-25, 30-0 victory. With the win, Tulane snaps a five-match conference losing streak to improve to 15-9 on the year and 5-7 in C-USA play. UAB, meanwhile, falls to 1-23 overall and 0-12 in league action.

"There's a difference between playing to win and playing not to lose, and tonight, we did the former," head coach Betsy Becker said. "We didn't play timid and were very aggressive from start to finish. Brittany did a good job of distributing the ball, Sarah Weiland had a really strong night both offensively and defensively, and our core group did a nice job of keeping it all together."

Esser, who posted 47 assists and 10 digs, helped orchestrate an offense that hit .346 for the night with 60 kills and just 16 errors in 127 swings. The Green Wave defense, meanwhile, held the Blazers to a .202 attack percentage with 43 kills and 18 errors in 124 attempts. A big reason for the low attack clip was nine blocks by the home team, including one solo and five assists by senior middle Iman Houston.

Kenon led all players with 21 kills to go with 10 digs, and Weilind tallied a match-best 14 digs and chipped in with 15 kills. Senior middle blocker Deva Fowler fell just one dig away from being the third Tulane player with a double-double, finishing with 12 kills and nine digs, while adding three blocks.

The match began with Tulane jumping out to an early 13-5 lead in game one and never looking back. The advantage grew to as many as nine at 19-10, and while the Blazers matched the Green Wave point-for-point the rest of the way, the point differential did not change in a 30-21 win.

Game two was a different story, however, as the two teams essentially traded the first 24 points. With the score knotted at 12-all, however, Tulane would go on a key 7-0 run to take control of the stanza. The Blazers would cut the lead to two at 19-17, and were just three points down at 24-21 and 26-23, but that would be as close as the Green Wave would allow as Tulane took a two-games-to-none advantage into the locker room at the break.

There was no let-up in the Green Wave in the third game as Tulane rolled out to a 10-5 lead, grew its advantage to as many as nine at 25-16, and kept the Blazers at arm's reach the entire en route to a 30-20 match-deciding victory.

Nicole Bowland led UAB with 12 kills, and Isabel Oquendo had a team-best 10 digs. Cassi Ociesa paced the Blazers with two solo stuffs and three block assists.

The Green Wave will close out their home schedule on Saturday when Tulane battles USF at 7 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. The match will be an eventful one as Tulane will hold a special ceremony for its seniors, host its first annual Alumni Night and sponsor "Dig For The Cure" in attempt to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Individual sponsors can pledge money per dig earned by the team in that match, as well as provide flat donation. The money will go directly to the Komen Foundation in each respective local community. Anyone interested in making a pledge for Saturday's DFTC match, please contact Steve Walsh in the Tulane Athletics Marketing Office at (504) 862-8443 or e-mail him at swalsh1@tulane.edu.

Fans that cannot be in Fogelman Arena on Saturday can follow all the action live via GameTracker at the official website of Tulane Athletics, www.tulanegreenwave.com. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.