Box Score (PDF)

ATLANTA – The University of South Alabama volleyball team fell to Tulane in straight sets (23-25, 13-25, 23-25) Thursday at the Hyatt Regency Invitational.

South Alabama (1-3) will return to action Friday when it closes play at the Hyatt Regency Invitational with a pair of matches. The Jaguars will face host Georgia Tech at 11 a.m. (CT) Friday morning, which will be broadcast live on ESPN3, and will cap the tournament with a 3:30 p.m. match Friday afternoon with Wofford.
 
GAME FACTS
- Tulane (5-1) used a 4-0 run early in the opening set of the match, which featured a pair of kills by Makala Heidelberg, to build a 6-3 advantage. The Jags cut their deficit to two points at 18-16 later in the set after a kill by Iva Durdanovic and a Tulane attack error, but the Green Wave answered with three consecutive points to push its lead to 21-16. USA responded with three straight points via kills from Durdanovic, Hannah Harris and Morgan Stalcup to cut the Tulane lead to 21-19. The Green Wave earned set point at 24-20 on a kill by Danyna Kern, but USA scored three straight points on a pair of kills by Kelley Hartman and a Tulane attack error to cut its deficit to 24-23. Tulane then clinched the set at 25-23, following a timeout, on a kill by Lexie Douglas.
- The Green Wave went on a 6-0 run to start the second set that featured a pair of Jaguar attack errors and two Tulane service aces. Tulane used two 3-0 runs later in the second set to push its lead to 19-9, and later went on a 4-0 run to increase its advantage to 23-10. The Green Wave earned set point at 24-13 on a kill by Yvette Burcescu and clinched the set at 25-13 on a Jaguar attack error to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
- Tulane went on a 3-0 run midway through the third set, highlighted by kills from Kern and Kedelberg, to tie the score at 14-14, and a second 3-0 run gave the Green Wave a 17-16 advantage. The Jags took a 20-18 lead later in the set on consecutive kills by Hannah Johnson before Tulane responded with back-to-back points on a Jaguar service error and a kill by Markenzie to tie the score 20-20. Kills by Kelley Hartman and Meaghan Jones gave the Jags a 22-20 lead. Tulane answered with three straight points after a timeout via kills from Erika Hansel and Lexie Douglas and a Jaguar attack error to take a 23-22 lead. The Green Wave earned match point at 24-22 on a kill by Kern, and clinched the set at 25-23 on a second straight kill by Kern to win the match 3-0.

NOTES
- Kelley Hartman led the Jags with nine kills and a .412 hitting percentage, and also added one dig and two total blocks. Durdanovic and Stalcup finished with six kills apiece.
- Tulane's Douglas finished with a game-high 12 kills.
- The Green Wave posted a .287 team hitting percentage in the match, while the Jags finished at .196. Tulane hit .429 in the second set, while the Jags' best percentage in a single set came at .282 in set one of the match.
- Parker Harrell led USA with 19 assists along with six digs, while Rachael DeMarcus added 15 assists and seven digs.
- Ashlyn Roberts led South Alabama with 14 digs, and also added two assists.
- Durdanovic and Harrell recorded one service ace apiece to account for the Jags' two service aces.

QUOTES
Head Coach Amy Hendrichovsky
- On the match:
"We didn't play to the level we were capable of playing to, period. We're in the process of giving people opportunity and experience to see who we're going to be able to consistently rely on, and right now we're having a hard time with some people being consistent. Ultimately, we just need to play the game of volleyball, and we need people to step up in the moments at the end of the sets when we are in tight matters."

- On the challenge of getting the team ready for two matches on Saturday following Thursday's result:
"Our team needs to get themselves ready. I thought they did a really good job last weekend of getting themselves prepared to step on the court, and today they didn't do that. Between myself and our team, they need to be walking on that court more prepared to compete in set one."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Friday when it closes play at the Hyatt Regency Invitational with a pair of matches. The Jaguars will face host Georgia Tech at 11 a.m. (CT) Friday morning, which will be broadcast live on ESPN3, and will cap the tournament with a 3:30 p.m. match Friday afternoon with Wofford.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with USAJaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at Twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Rally Score Club, the volleyball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Rally Score Club go directly to support the South Alabama volleyball program. For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/rallyscoreclub.