Nov. 18, 2005

Box Score

No. 11 seed Tulane continues to roll through the 2005 Conference USA Volleyball Championship as the Green Wave beat third-seeded Tulsa, 3-2 Friday night at Rice's Autry Court.

"We are definitely going to celebrate after this one," said first year Tulane head coach Liz Kritza. "Not because it was a great win or because of some Cinderella story, but because I am finally beginning to see the girls smile and enjoy themselves. They are finally learning that hard work, even through tough times, eventually pays off."

In a back and forth action, Tulane and Tulsa won two each, forcing a game five in quarterfinals action. For the Green Wave this was nothing new as the squad took host and sixth-seeded Rice to five Thursday evening in its opening round match.

To lead the Green Wave was Conference USA Freshman of the Year Sara Radosevic, who had 34 of TU's 71 kills, just four shy of breaking the single-match C-USA tournament record. The rookie hit .325 to go along with eight digs, earning 40.5 points for the winning effort.

"Radosevic is an extremely quick learner," Kritza confirmed. "She makes rookie mistakes like any other freshman, but the difference with her is that she picks up, learns from it and moves on. She can make adjustments and continue to carry the load of the team."

Luna Rebrovic, who was also named to the All-Freshmen team earlier in the week, recorded a double-double for Tulane with her 54 assists and 15 digs, while senior Kelli Dickson posted 25 digs. Of note, Dickson was also named to the 2005 All-Conference third team.

Leading the Golden Hurricane was Dana Weddle, who led five Tulsa players in double-digit kills, and Julia Silva. Weddle posted 18 kills on an impressive .457 hitting percentage. Silva tallied her third triple-double outing with 10 kills, 14 digs and 58 assists. Tulsa's Amy Meyer had 11 kills, while Kassiana Urnau and Germana Hilaro had 17 and 12, respectively.

With the win, the Green Wave advance to the semifinals and will face the winner of second-seeded Houston and seventh-seeded SMU Saturday at 7 p.m.

For complete C-USA Championship coverage, please go to: Tournament Central.

In the second match of the day, fifth-seeded East Carolina advanced following a 3-0 win over Southern Miss to take on fourth-seeded UTEP at 3 p.m.

For the late session, the first No. 11 seed in Conference USA Championship history to compete in quarterfinal action is the Tulane Green Wave as they battle No. 3 seed Tulsa.

To conclude the Friday's tournament play, the seventh-seeded SMU Mustangs will face second-seeded Houston at 8 p.m.

The semifinal matches are slated for Saturday, Nov. 19, at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., with the championship match set for Sunday, Nov. 20 at 4 p.m. (CT). The match will be televised live by CSTV. Conference USA's official website, www.conferenceusa.com, will provide updates, box scores, recaps and photos.

2005 C-USA VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

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 - (7) SMU def. (10) UAB, 3-1 (27-30, 30-28, 30-26, 30-21)

Friday, November 18, 2005 (Quarterfinals): Match 5 - (1) Marshall def. UCF, 3-2 (24-30, 23-30, 30-25, 30-23, 15-10) Match 6 - (4) UTEP def. East Carolina, 3-0 (30-25, 31-29, 30-25) Match 7 - Tulane def. (3) Tulsa, 3-2 (26-30, 30-25, 21-30, 30-15, 15-13) Match 8 - (2) Houston vs. SMU, 8 p.m.

Saturday, November 19, 2005 (Semifinals): Match 9 - Marshall vs. UTEP, 5 p.m. Match 10 - Tulane 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.