Tulane Beach Volleyball Welcomes Four Newcomers in 2026-27 Class
Head coach Eyal Zimet has secured the addition of four newcomers to the Tulane University beach volleyball program for the 2026-27 campaign. The four future freshmen joining the Green Wave next season are Loreta Cabule, Ciela Hendrickson, Naomi Lygas, and Liz Selinger.
“We are excited to welcome our 2026 incoming class to Tulane, and we can’t wait to have their energy, skills, and hard work help heighten the competition on the sand,” said Zimet. “They are fantastic student-athletes who will fit our team culture well both on and off the court, and we are looking forward to having them become a part of our Green Wave family! Roll Wave!”
Bios on the Four New Greenies
Loreta Cabule is a native of Riga, Latvia, and attends First Secondary School. At 6-0, Cabule has primarily played at the blocker or split blocker positions. She has represented her nation of Latvia in both national and international tournaments, and she participated in the Beach Pro Tour Futures in the Philippines. Cabule placed third in the Latvian Youth Beach Volleyball Championship U18, and she twice competed in the U20 edition, finishing second and third. A multi-sport athlete, Cabule has been successful in track and field with victories in the Ventspils District U18 Athletics Competition 100m, LSC Championship Stadium Phase 100m hurdles, and the Ventspils U18 Athletics Competition high jump. She will not be the first member of her family to play collegiate sports in the US as her brother, Leo Cabulis, is a hockey player at Division III Alvernia University.
Ciela Hendrickson is a native of Santa Monica, California, and attends Santa Monica High School. Hendrickson has a history of winning as a champion of the 2025 Cal Cup and 2025 BVCA Club v Club National Championship. She won JVA Best of the Beach and finished third in the 2024 West Coast Championships. Overcoming adversity at a young age, she was in a skiing accident at four years old, breaking her femur. Despite having a metal rod placed her femur for nine months, Hendrickson has persevered to reach the Division I ranks. Paying it forward, her dream career is to become an emergency physician.
Naomi Lygas is a native of Ewing, New Jersey, and attends Princeton High School. Not including her ongoing senior season, Lygas in just three seasons has amassed a school record with over 1,220 kills. She adds 687 digs, 25 blocks, and 191 aces. She was the 2024 New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year while claiming back-to-back Conference Player of the Year awards. Adding to her trophy cabinet, she boasts two first-team all-state, two first-team all group, and three first-team all-conference honors. In 2024, she also won both Area and Central New Jersey Player of the Year recognitions. Lygas has helped her team win a pair of state titles and four conference championships. Outside of volleyball, Lygas is a Gold Key recipient and holds a certificate of biliteracy as an AP Scholar with Distinction.
Liz Selinger is a native of Southlake, Texas, and attends Southlake Carroll Senior High. Selinger has played both indoor and beach volleyball. At the 2025 BVCA National Championship, her team was third out of 160 teams. She was a runner-up at the 2024 BVCA Club vs. Club and finished third place the following year. Selinger was a 2024 p1440 Fab 50 Ambassador. Athleticism runs in her family as her father, Steve, played basketball at Harvard, and her brother, Joe, plays soccer for Barca Residency Academy on the MLS NEXT Homegrown Team. Selinger intends to major in economics at Tulane.
Quartet to Join Team in Fall, 2026
The four newcomers are set to join the Green Wave program prior to the 2026 fall season. The Green Wave will hit the sand for the 2026 spring season next month, first with the Olive and Blue Intrasquad on February 14. A week later, the season officially begins with the Green Wave Invitational over two days on February 20 and 21. Both events take place at White Sands Beach Volleyball Courts.
Portions Courtesy Tulane Athletics
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.