Saturday, Feb. 13

Tulane 3, Memphis 0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-16)	Box Score
Temple 3, USF 1 (20-25, 25-20, 28-26, 25-18)	Box Score

Tulane 3, Memphis 0

The Tulane volleyball team (4-5, 2-0 AAC) moved to 2-0 in American Athletic Conference play as the Green Wave swept Memphis (3-3, 0-2 AAC) at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse on Saturday.

"We're 2-0. That's what our season is all about is this conference race," head coach Jim Barnes said. "We held our own at home and put a team away like we should and now Houston, a team that's 2-0 as well, we've got to go do that on the road. We have a lot ahead of us and we're growing day by day, so we'll be ready.

Freshman libero Sophia Ervanian made her way into the Tulane program record books in the win, taking the number one spot in digs in a three-set match with a total of 30.

Earning a consecutive double-double was senior outside hitter Lexie Douglas, who recorded 15 kills and 11 digs. Freshman outside hitter Mackenzie Martin and junior middle hitter Kayla Dinkins each added nine kills in the sweep, while junior right side hitter Yvette Burcescu notched four kills and four blocks.

Junior setter Amanda Giardina totaled 18 assists while junior setter Taylor Henigsman added 16 in three sets.

The first set marked a back-and-forth game from the start, with 16 tie scores and nine lead changes. Five kills from Tulane sparked a 7-2 run that put the Green Wave ahead 17-15 before Memphis came back to tie it up at 17. There were tie scores at the next five points until a kill from Douglas put the OIive and Blue at set point and a Tigers attacking error closed it out for Tulane, 25-23.

Memphis jumped out to an early 6-2 lead to start the second set and held it until consecutive kills from Douglas, Davis and Martin tied the score at 15. The ties continued, as a kill and service ace from Martin evened the score at 19. A 3-1 Tigers run put the team ahead, 22-20, before a 5-1 Green Wave run, with kills from Davis and Martin put Tulane on top at 26-24 to put the home team ahead 2-0 in the match.

The Green Wave were rolling to start the third set, recording five straight kills to take a 5-0 lead early. Tulane held its lead for the remainder of the set, with consecutive service aces from Giardina putting the home team at set point before a kill from Dinkins solidified the win at 25-16.

Temple 3, USF 1

The Temple volleyball team picked up a 3-1 victory on the road at USF on Saturday afternoon with a tight 20-25, 25-20, 28-26, 25-18 win. Temple improves to 5-1 overall, 1-1 in the American, while USF falls to 3-3, 1-1.

How it Happened
> A tight match from start to finish, Temple battled through 32 ties and 18 lead changes between four sets.
> After falling 25-20 in the first, the Owls tied the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 win in the second frame.
> Temple looked to be in trouble in the third set, but the Owls fought off three set points and picked up a marathon 28-26 win.
> The Cherry and White pulled away midway through the first set and recorded the match's most lopsided set score (25-18) to finish out the win.
> Temple held USF to a .191 attack, while the Owls hit at a .246 clip.

Individual Highlights
> Junior Gem Grimshaw led the Owls' attack with 18 kills, adding 11 digs for a double-double, to go along with four blocks and two aces.
> Junior Miray Bolukbasi finished with 16 kills and seven digs with a pair of blocks.
> Junior Tyler Lindgren tallied 42 assists with seven digs.
> Senior Katerina Papazoglou finished her day with nine kills and five digs.
> Defensively, freshman Falanika Danielson had a match-best 27 digs, while classmate Taylor Davenport was strong at the net with four blocks.

Set One: USF 25, Temple 20
> The back-and-forth first set was knotted at 9-9 before USF went on a run to lead 16-12.
> Temple countered with a run with Grimshaw on the line to tie the match at 19-19.
> USF got the next point and pushed forward to finish out the set on a 6-1 run to go up 1-0.

Set Two: Temple 25, USF 20
> The teams stayed within two points of each other in the second set until a late run from the Owls created separation.
> Tied at 17-17, Davenport was on the line during a 5-1 run that put Temple up 22-18.
> USF got two back down the stretch, but Temple finished out the 25-20 win to tie the match at 1-1.

Set Three: Temple 28, USF 26
> In the pivotal third set, both team appeared to be cruising at one point, but in the end, a late push from the Owls gave Temple the momentum.
> Temple started the set with an 8-2 advantage, backed by strong serving from Danielson.
> The Owls' lead grew to 14-8 before USF mounted their comeback.
> The Bulls tied the set at 19-19 and led 24-22, but Temple fought off three set points to tie things at 25.
> A big Grimshaw/Williams block gave the Owls the serve at 26-25 and then Bolukbasi ended things with a rocket to the floor as Temple won 28-26.

Set Four: Temple 25, USF 18
> The fourth set started off close, before the Owls pulled away, hitting .379 in the set.
> Tied 4-4, Temple went on a run culminating in a Grimshaw solo block to set the advantage to 13-9.
> Temple grew the lead to 20-14 and finished it out on a Grimshaw ace to make it 25-18.