Culbertson, Hooper And Bohannon Lead TU Volleyball To A 3-1 win At Charlotte

Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Hooper recorded a season-high 11 kills and had a .391 hitting percentage as the University of Tulsa volleyball team defeated Charlotte 3-1 (25-21, 26-28, 25-20, 25-17) at the Dale F. Halton Arena on Friday night.

Hooper added four blocks assists and has recorded 26 kills in her last three matches.

"We really fought hard tonight," TU head coach Steven McRoberts said. "Charlotte had a great crowd and their team played well and with a lot of emotion. Valerie (El Houssine) came in and gave us a lift and Ashley Hooper had a tremendous match for us. Our defense stepped up with 10 blocks."

Senior outside hitter Kellie Culbertson led TU with 15 kills and added 13 digs for her 17th double-double of the season. The Long Beach, Calif., native added two assists, four service aces and four total blocks.

Freshman outside hitter Erica Bohannon added 11 kills, a .269 hitting percentage, two assists, six digs and two service aces. The Dallas, Texas native has recorded five service aces in her last two matches.

Junior setter Bailey Clampitt recorded 26 assists and nine digs, while freshman setter Genesis Viera added 21 assists and nine digs.

Freshman libero Brooke Berryhill added 20 digs, while junior outside hitter Valerie El Houssine added eight kills and a .438 hitting percentage.

With the score tied at 21 in the first set, the Golden Hurricane (17-4, 6-0 C-USA) scored the final four points to win the set and take an early 1-0 lead. Culbertson, Bohannon and Hooper each had five kills during the first set. Hooper added a .833 hitting percentage.

Tulsa scored the first three points in the second frame, but Charlotte (10-12, 0-7 C-USA) came back to tie it at six. For the rest of the set, neither team had a lead of more than two points. With the score at 26, Charlotte scored the final two points to even the match heading into the intermission. TU converted 71 percent of its sideout opportunities and Culbertson led the team with four kills, while Hooper added three kills.

The 49ers had a four-point lead, 10-6, in the third frame, but the Hurricane scored 12 of the next 16 points to take a four-point lead, 18-14. With TU up 24-20, a kill from El Houssine gave the Hurricane a 2-1 match lead. El Houssine led the team with six kills and a .600 hitting percentage and TU converted 75 percent of its sideout opportunities.

The Hurricane was holding on to a point lead, 6-5, in the fourth set, but outscored the 49ers 12-5 to increase its lead to eight, 18-10. With TU up 23-14, the 49ers cut the Hurricane's lead to 24-17. But, a service ace by Culbertson ended the match keeping TU unbeaten in conference play. Bohannon connected on all three attempts and Culbertson added three kills and TU converted 72 percent of its sideout opportunities.

Charlotte was led by Taylor Cannon with 16 kills, Britney Leigh Held with 43 assists and Michelle Hovey with 18 digs. Held added 12 digs for a double-double, while Amanda Videmsek added 11 kills and 14 digs for a double-double.

The Golden Hurricane returns to action on Sunday against East Carolina at noon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center and continues its three-match homestand against Louisiana Tech on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m., which will be TU's dig pink match and against Southern Miss on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m.