Nov. 17, 2005

Final Stats

Conference USA Freshman of the Year Sara Radosevic showcased her talents tonight for the Green Wave as the first No. 11 seed in Conference USA Championship history advanced to quarterfinal action. Radosevic had 26 kills to help Tulane defeat host and sixth-seeded Rice in a down-to-the-wire 3-2 match Thursday evening in first round C-USA tournament play.

Also helping Tulane advance in the tournament for the third consecutive year was freshman Luna Rebrovic, who posted 56 assists, 12 digs and five of TU's 15 service aces. The 15 Green Wave aces recorded tied for the most in a C-USA Tournament single match history as Charlotte recorded as many verses Southern Miss on Nov. 16, 2000.

Rice captured a tight game one, 33-31, without the services of standout Olaya Pazo. Leading the way for the Owls was Tessa Kuykendall, who tallied eight kills, and eventually had 20 on the night.

The Green Wave fought back to win games two and three, 30-23 and 30-27, respectively, while Rice forced a game five with a score of 30-18 in the fourth stanza. The Owls took game four after tabbing 15 kills on only three attack errors. But youth served Tulane well as Rebrovic and Radosevic, both named to the Conference USA All-Freshmen team earlier in the week, drove home the win.

"Obviously tonight was a huge reward for the team," said Tulane head coach Liz Kritza. "After all of the challenges and obstacles we've faced this year, tonight was a great win. Not necessarily because of the upset, but rather because the team played with so much heart."

With the win, the No. 11 seed Tulane will advance to face third-seeded Tulsa, Friday at 3 p.m. on Rice's Autry Court.

"Now we just need all of the Houston folks affected by Hurricane Katrina to come out and support the Wave. We are all family here."

A complete schedule of the 2005 Conference USA Volleyball Championship follows:

Thursday, November 17, 2005: Match 1 - (9) UCF def. (8) Memphis, 3-1 (22-30, 30-24, 30-24, 30-24) Match 2 - (5) East Carolina def. (12) Southern Miss, 3-0 (30-21, 32-30, 30-27) Match 3 - (11) Tulane def. (6) Rice, 3-2 (31-33, 30-23, 30-27, 18-30, 15-13) Match 4 - (10) UAB vs. (7) SMU, 8 p.m.

Friday, November 18, 2005: Match 5 - (1) Marshall vs. UCF, 1 p.m. Match 6 - (4) UTEP vs. East Carolina, 3 p.m. Match 7 - (3) Tulsa vs. Tulane, 6 p.m. Match 8 - (2) Houston vs. Winner of UAB/SMU, 8 p.m.

Saturday, November 19, 2005 (Semifinals): Match 9 - Winner of Match 5 vs. Winner of Match 6, 5 p.m. Match 10 - Winner of Match 7 vs. Winner of Match 8, 7 p.m.

Sunday, November 20, 2005 (Championship): Match 11 - Championship Match (CSTV), 4 p.m.

All Times Central. All matches will be played at Autry Court, Houston, Texas.