TU Volleyball Wins Second Straight C-USA Title

The University of Tulsa volleyball team won its second straight Conference USA Championship Friday topping Rice 3-1.

The Golden Hurricane won the first game 25-19 but Rice won the second 28-26. Tulsa came back in the third winning 25-22 and secured the title with a 25-23 victory.

Diana Silva and Tyler Henderson combined for 41 kills on the night. Silva recorded a career-high 22 kills hitting .255 while Henderson tallied 19 kills and hit .318.

Kellie Culbertson also had a career-high night with 36 assists and 15 digs. Bailey Clampitt added 23 assists and five digs while Miriele Gobbo hit .500 with seven kills for the Golden Hurricane.

Rice was led by Nancy Cole who recorded 12 kills. The Owls finished the regular season at 15-12 overall and 10-6 in conference play. Rice hit .182 (46-17-159) with 46 kills, 45 assists, three aces, 77 digs and 9.0 blocks.

As a team, Tulsa hit .206 with 72 kills, 69 assists, 84 digs and six blocks. TU holds a five-match lead in the standings with four matches to play.

The win is the third regular season Conference USA title for TU who will make its second straight trip to the NCAA tournament.

Tulsa will finish the weekend out against Houston at 1 p.m. Sunday.