Dive Into Green Wave Sports
Shake out your pom-poms and practice your “Hullabaloo” cheer, Green Wave sports fans. It's time to root for Tulane women's volleyball, in its home debut on Monday (Sept. 1) in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse, and Wave football, opening in the Louisiana Superdome on Sept. 13.
During Saturday's (Aug. 23) orientation activities, head coaches Liz Kritza, left, and Bob Toledo, right, promote their teams to the newest Green Wave fans, incoming students. (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)
And anyone hankering for track and field action after the Summer Olympics can enjoy the Tulane track teams in action. The teams start the fall season on Friday (Aug. 29) by hosting a cross country meet the Green Wave Invitational held at City Park in New Orleans.
Heather Van Norman coaches both the women's cross country team and the newly reestablished men's team, which returns after a three-year absence.
The Green Wave volleyball team heads to Provo, Utah, to open the season on Friday and Saturday (Aug. 29-30) at Brigham Young University's Molten Invitational.
Chosen in preseason as the top team in Conference USA, the Tulane team plays its first home match on Monday against Florida A&M University.
Fourth-year head coach Liz Kritza held a “scripted scrimmage” for her volleyball team on Saturday (Aug. 23), pitting the team against a squad featuring assistant coaches Sinisa Momic, Meg Henican and Blazen Draguljic, as well as key Green Wave reserves.
The varsity emerged with a 3-2 victory in which senior Sara Radosevic and freshman Visnja Djurdjevic combined for 43 kills and 23 digs.
“I think it was a very productive day, probably our most productive end-of-preseason scrimmage I have seen yet,” Kritza said. Her squad will face four teams ranked in the top 25 in preseason. The opening game in Utah will be against the University of Missouri on Friday.
Tulane returns all 13 letter winners from last year's 28-6 squad, including reigning AVCA honorable-mention All-Americans Radosevic, Jenn Miller and Bridget Wells. Miller led all players with 20 digs on Saturday, while junior Rachel Lindelow posted a team-best 67 assists to go along with 14 digs, four aces and a kill.
Members of the women's volleyball team huddle up during preseason practice in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. (Photo by Tricia Travis)
Another surprise on Saturday was the crowd assembled in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse as several fans showed up catch their first look at the 2008 Tulane team.
“It was exciting today,” Kritza said. “I think there is a kind of buzz this year about our team, and I'm excited about getting things started.”
Meanwhile, on the gridiron, the Wave football team is heading to a tough showdown on Sept. 6 on the road against the University of Alabama, followed by the home opener on Sept. 13 against C-USA opponent East Carolina University.
Head coach Bob Toledo also held a scrimmage on Saturday in front of an energetic crowd of Wave supporters at the Westfeldt Practice Facility. Sophomore quarterback Kevin Moore completed 21-of-32 pass attempts for 224 yards and a touchdown.
“There were a lot of guys who stood out and we had a lot of good things happen on both sides of the ball I was pretty pleased,” Toledo said after the scrimmage. We're doing some good things. We just have to keep getting better.”
