Nov. 7, 2003

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University volleyball team has enjoyed an extremely successful 2003 season to date, but with just two weeks and three matches left to play, the Green Wave begin a tough stretch of road contests to close out the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., to take on Conference USA foe Southern Miss at 7 p.m. at the Payne Center.

Saturday's matchup will be the second of the year between the two schools - with Tulane emerging victorious 29-31, 30-21, 32-30, 30-24 back on Sept. 27 in the Payne Center. This time, however, it counts towards the teams' conference record. Tulane (23-4) and Southern Miss (24-5) have both enjoyed tremendous years, but only one team will go away happy on Saturday as the Green Wave and Golden Eagles are both tied for third in the C-USA standings at 8-2.

"We know this time around, it's going to be harder to beat Southern Miss," head coach Betsy Becker said. "No. 1, they're much improved. When we beat them earlier this season, we were like, 'Wow, we're really lucky to come out of this one with a win.' Our players realize how good they are, and we just have to step it up.

"No. 2, the Payne Center is a tough place to play. The fans are right on top of you and it gets really loud in there, but this is a good opportunity to be in. We feel prepared for that, and we have won in that environment before. If we can go to Southern Miss and take care of business, we'll be in good shaping going into next weekend's final road trip."

The Green Wave are currently riding the crest of a three-match winning streak - 3-0 wins last week over Southern, East Carolina and Charlotte - and would like to keep the momentum of that rolling as Tulane closes out the season next weekend at Saint Louis and Memphis before returning to Fogelman Arena for the 2003 Conference USA Tournament beginning on Nov. 21.

Southern Miss' home court, however, has been a tough place for opponents to play as the Golden Eagles are 12-1 in the friendly confines of the Payne Center. The one loss, however, came at the hands of the Green Wave, and Tulane has won its last two contests in the facility.

"You get a sense of accomplishment if you can go to place like the Payne Center and win," Becker said. "It gives you a lot of momentum for the rest of the season. Volleyball is such a momentum sport, and the big thing is who has it and who doesn't. The bigger thing, though, is our players have enough character to go out, not get caught up by the crowd, and do their jobs."

As a team, Tulane leads Conference USA with a 17.95 dig-per-game average and a .154 opponent attack percentage. The Green Wave also rank second in the league in blocks (2.79/g), fourth in kills (16.37) and fifth in assists (14.70).

Junior middle blocker Deva Fowler paces the Green Wave in kills and blocks with game averages of 3.91 and 1.41, respectively. Fellow middle blocker Kim Swafford, the reigning C-USA Player of the Week, leads the team with a .337 attack percentage, and senior libero Karlyn Daly tops the defense with 4.42 digs per game.

Junior outside hitter Anastasia Kenon is second on the club in kills (3.57) and digs (3.45) while Lindsey Norman is fourth on the squad with 2.30 kills per game and third on the club with 3.32 digs per outing.

Southern Miss, meanwhile, ranks third in the league in service aces per game with a 2.13 average, and fourth in both attack percentage and opponent attack percentage with marks of .256 and .186, respectively. Nicki Tribble paces the Golden Eagles with 4.20 kills per game, and Bridgette Files leads the USM defense with 3.22 digs per outing. At the net, Files leads the way with 1.23 blocks per outing.