UTSA junior outside hitter Caroline Krueger still sees a ray of sunlight. Even as the losses have piled up, Krueger believes that a fortuitous bounce here or there or developing a stronger resolve in critical moments could make a difference.

“I think that we’re doing the right things right now,” Krueger said. “The teams that we’re playing are really competitive and I think we just need to keep going for it and believing in each other. We’re really close.”

The Roadrunners seemed on a path to collecting a much-needed win on Wednesday, but struggles closing out sets proved to be their undoing.

Tulane displayed its mettle down the stretch of the first two sets and rode the momentum to a 25-18, 25-23, 25-22 win vs. UTSA in American Athletic Conference play at the Convocation Center.

UTSA (6-12, 0-5) suffered its seventh straight loss.

“A tough loss,” UTSA coach Carol Torok said. “They were way grittier than us. That’s the bottom line for me.”

Tulane (10-7, 2-3) was at its best when it mattered. The Green Wave outscored UTSA 12-3 to win the first set after trailing 15-13. They used an 11-3 run to overcome a 20-14 deficit and win the second set.

“I think, for us, it’s kind of a mentality — just go in swinging,” said Tulane outside hitter Avery Burks, who had a match-high 11 kills. “We scouted pretty well, so we knew where to place the ball if we needed to. I think just going in guns-a-blazing, trying to swing at everything, really helped.”

The Roadrunners, on the other hand, couldn’t sustain the groove they carried in building advantages.

“I think volleyball has a lot of momentum behind it,” Krueger said. “If you let the other team start bringing more energy, sometimes you can feel that on your side. I think we’re getting better at recognizing when it’s tight that we still need to go for it. I think our problem right now is letting one mistake turn into two or three and letting (the opponent) go on little runs.”

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