Aug. 31, 2004

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University volleyball team will kick off the 2004 season on Wednesday, Sept. 1 when the Green Wave plays host to Prairie View A&M at 6 p.m. at Fogelman Arena.

The match will be the first of four in a row played at the on-campus facility as Tulane will host Nicholls State, Southern Illinois and Georgetown over the weekend in the Kathy Trosclair Memorial Tournament. The Green Wave will play Nicholls on Friday at 7 p.m. before battling SIU and Georgetown on Saturday at 1 and 7 p.m., respectively.

"We are very excited to get the season started," head coach Betsy Becker said. "We worked hard last spring, saw a lot of good things happen during preseason practice. Now, it's time to see if it's all going to pay off.

"You play your teammates every day in practice, so it'll be good to finally see someone new across the net. Prairie View had a very good season in 2003, but I think our team is ready for the challenge."

The Green Wave, which were picked to finish fourth in Conference USA according to a vote of league coaches, return four starters from last season's 25-7 team, including preseason all-league middle blocker Deva Fowler and two-time All C-USA honoree Anastasia Kenon. Fowler earned AVCA honorable-mention All-America honors as a junior after leading the team in kills (444), kills per game (3.83), service aces (39), solo blocks (27), block assists (146), total blocks (146) and blocks per game (1.49).

Other returning veterans for 2004 are starters Lindsey Norman and Katie Case, along with key reserves Kelli Dickson, Iman Houston and Sara Thorson. In addition to the talented vets, Tulane will add the services of a quartet of true freshmen - Brittany Esser, Lindsey Karlin, Sarah Weiland and Angela Wiggins - and a pair of transfers - Chelsee Hurley and Blair Moon.

Prairie View, like Tulane, will be playing their first match of the year on Wednesday. The Panthers, which are picked to finish second in the Western Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, are fresh off a 20-13 campaign that included a 7-1 mark in SWAC play.

Prairie View returns three starters from a year ago, including setter Ashley Hausman, who paced the Panthers with 1,061 assists in 2003. Outside hitter Jameisha Suttom is PVAMU's top returning offensive threat after tallying 112 kills and 11 aces last season, and middle blocker Lindsey Taylor returns after finishing second on the Panther squad in blocks a year ago with 57.

For ticket information to Wednesday's match, the Kathy Trosclair Memorial Tournament or any future Green Wave events, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.