Exclusive Interviews with Tulane Beach Volleyball as They Head to the NCAAs
The Tulane Beach Volleyball team is in the midst of firsts. This past weekend, the Green Wave claimed its first ever league title, wiping the floor with the rest of the Conference-USA tournament teams. Then, the Wave gets the call on Sunday to enter its first in its history trip to the NCAA championship tournament, which will be held in Gulf Shores, Alabama this weekend. The 14th seeded Green Wave will take on #3 seed UCLA at 3:00 p.m. on Friday on ESPN2.
We were there when the ladies loaded the bus for the trip East, and we got to speak to a pair of seniors and head coach Eyal Zimet. What follows are the comments, edited for brevity and clarity. For the complete interview, go to this link here. You can find dozens of interviews and analysis on our YouTube Channel.
Senior - McKensie Cutler
How does it feel, heading to your first NCAA tourney?
It's so amazing! I had no idea we would make it this far. This team is just such a special group of girls, and we have drive like no other team we've had in the past. This is just such a special way to end my career. As a senior, I've been at this program for four years, and I love Tulane so much. So it just means so much to get to make history for this program and move on to the NCAA Championship.
After a difficult regular season, the Green Wave flipped a switch and swept the C-USA tournament. What happened?
Oh my gosh, every night before the game, we would all get in one big hotel room and pump each other up. We had our captains do a pep talk, and we would just get so fired up. We would just really unite as a team, and this group is all so close. And we're just like best friends, and we just love to hang out. We wanted it so bad. The last two years, we made it to the conference championship and fell short. But this year, we were like, it's not happening again. So we did everything we could to make it happen, and we just had an absolutely great tournament.
Senior - Molly Trodd
What does this mean to you, making it to the NCAAs?
I'm just so proud of every one of us. We've worked really, really hard toward this goal. The past two years, getting second was such a salt in the wound. And we just wanted to come back and fight and just put all of our work out there. And I think we all came together when it mattered most. It's been a great, great season so far.
Taking on a reknowned program like UCLA, how does that translate for you?
I honestly see it more as a privilege because the weather's going to be kind of crazy. And we're used to that here in New Orleans. We're used to all the crazy stuff. And I think it's going to come to our advantage. We're little kids and we're scrappy. And we're just going to try and fight back as hard as we can.
Head Coach - Eyal Zimet
What does this mean for Tulane?
This is monumental. The vision coming here in 2019 (Zimet's first year as head coach) was exactly this. And just to see it come into fruition is almost surreal. The journey this year with this team was incredible from day one. And for us the message was trust the process, the usual thing. But for us it's beyond it. We're asking a lot of sacrifices being made. And a lot of hard work (be) put in without any guarantees of outcome. And that's a lot to ask in this day and age where there's immediate feedback and immediate instant gratification for us. So I'm super proud of our team for being able to stay with the process and keep the hard work, stay together, and manufacture this amazing historic event.
How do you feel, going up against 3rd seed UCLA?
Our opponents, you mean? Yeah. Whoever they are, we're looking to go to the Gulf Shores. Absolutely open-minded, play hard. The conditions are very good for us. It should be pretty windy. We always consider wind as an advantage for us. And wherever it is on the other side of the net, we will do anything we can to disrupt their plans and take care of ours.
For the complete interview, go to this link here. You can find dozens of interviews and analysis on our YouTube Channel.
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Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.