Tulsa Volleyball Falls To UCF

The Tulsa volleyball team dropped a 3-1 match to UCF on Sunday in Tulsa. 

Sunday, September 28th 2014, 11:13 pm

By: News On 6


The University of Tulsa volleyball team dropped its match against American Athletic Conference foe, UCF, 23-25, 25-19, 20-25, 17-25, as the Hurricane fell to 8-5, 0-2 in The American, Sunday afternoon.

“It was a battle. It was one of those matches that you could sense the importance with regards to our league,” said head coach Ryan Wills. “UCF did a great job of being consistent offensively. I was extremely proud of what we did, based on the injuries we've had, and having another player go down in the very first set. I was really proud of how our players fought. They did everything that they could to make this a match. We had some opportunities that kind of slipped away from us, but given the circumstances, I'm really proud of who we are as a volleyball team.”

Erica Bohannon finished the match with a career-high 24 kills on a career-high 62 attempts, while Bailey Clampitt recorded a season-high 48 assists on the day.

“Erica was carrying the load,” said Wills. “She had six kills a set, and she did that with a very physical and good volleyball team on the other side that was keying on her and had two and three blocks up at times. She had a lot of responsibility on the floor, from a serve-receiver perspective, and we couldn't have asked for her to compete any harder.”

Paige Panfil also had a breakout performance, as she recorded a career-high 11 kills.

“Paige had one of her better matches,” said Wills. “When she's in the air and she keeps her arm fast, good things are happening. With 11 kills and hitting .258, I can't ask anything more from her offensively. I was proud of her development over the last couple of weeks.”

Middle blocker Ashley Hooper matched her season high win 10 kills, while Nicole Newton recorded nine, Saturday afternoon.

The first set started fast for the Hurricane, who ran out to an 11-7 lead, and forced the Knights to use a timeout. After the break, TU's lead was cut down to 17-15. The Knights then rallied off two-straight points to tie up the match for the first time since 1-1.

The Hurricane were able to stay in control and grow its lead to 20-18. However, the Knights took its first lead of the match, 21-20, before finishing the set on a 4-3 run to take t first frame. Bohannon finished the set with eight kills, while Panfil recorded five in the frame.

The second stanza started off with five ties before UCF called the first timeout of the set, down 12-9. The Hurricane didn't relinquish the lead the rest of the way, and saw its biggest lead of the match, going up 23-15. UCF managed to cut the score to 24-19, before a service error ended the frame and evened the match at 1-1 at halftime.

The third frame was the closest of the match with 14 ties and four lead changes. With both teams going back-and-forth in the early going, the Knights took its biggest through the first 22 points, 12-10. The Hurricane bounced back and took a brief lead at 16-15. That would be the last lead of the set for TU, as UCF pulled away at the end to take a crucial 2-1 lead in the match.

Like the rest of the match, the final frame stayed close through the beginning stages, with both teams battling, before TU gave itself some breathing room, taking an 11-7 lead. That lead quickly dwindled, as the Knights managed to tie the match at 14-14. The rest of frame was controlled by UCF, who ended the match on an 11-3 run.

The Knights now move to 8-5 on the year, with a 2-0 American Athletic Conference record.

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