TU Volleyball Beats Top-Ranked UCF

The University of Tulsa volleyball team (18-7, 10-5 The American) earned a come-from-behind victory over the top-ranked UCF Knights (20-7, 13-2 The American), 24-26, 22-25, 26-24, 28-26, 15-12, to pick up a big road win on Friday night in Orlando.

Erica Bohannon finished the match with a career-high 26 kills, while Valerie El Houssine (12 kills), Paige Panfil (11 kills), Nicole Newton (10 kills), and Ashley Hooper (10 kills) all recorded double-digit kills for the Golden Hurricane.

Sophomore libero Brooke Berryhill finished the match with 22 digs, her fifth 20-plus dig performance in the last six matches.

“Obviously it was a great win for us,” said head coach Ryan Wills. “To be on the road, down 2-0 against a team that leads the conference, for us to come back and win was huge for us.”

The win puts the Hurricane in contention, just three games out of first with five matches to play.

In the opening frame the Hurricane drew first blood by racing out to an 8-6 lead and forcing the home side to use the first timeout of the match. Bohannon's two kills lifted Tulsa in the early going.

Following the break, the Knights battled back to quickly take an 11-10 lead. Tulsa was forced to use a timeout after the Knights took a slim 14-12 advantage. The Hurricane trailed by no more than three the rest of the set and brought set to a 24-24 affair. Despite the valiant TU comeback, UCF used two-straight points to take set number one.

Bohannon had a team-high five kills in the opening frame.

The second game was back-and-forth early on, seeing seven tie scores. The Hurricane was forced to use the first timeout of the frame, when UCF took its largest lead at 15-12. After the timeout, TU battled back to take a 19-18 lead, to force the Knights to use its first timeout of the set.

Following the timeout, the Knights retook the lead and went on to finish off the frame on a 7-3 run to take a commanding 2-0 lead going into halftime.

“Our message at halftime, was that we needed to win the third set,” said Wills. “After that, we'll figure out how to handle the fourth set if we win the third. We just needed to stay positive and we did that.”

The third frame stayed consistent to the rest of the match, starting off tightly contested in the early going, with the teams deadlocked at 10-10 through the first 20 points.

The first timeout of the set was taken by UCF, after the Golden Hurricane matched its largest lead of frame, up 16-14.

UCF managed to battle back to take a two-point lead of its own, 19-17, forcing a TU timeout. The Knights then rallied off two straight after the timeout, forcing Tulsa to use its final timeout of the set, down 21-17. After the break, TU used a huge surge to tie the set back up at 22-22.

UCF was then on the verge of the sweep, up 24-22, however, the Hurricane fought off two-straight match points by running off four in a row to extend the match to a fourth set.

TU held the advantage early in the fourth, taking a 7-4 lead and forcing the Knights to use a timeout.

In a match full of comebacks, UCF did just that, retaking the lead, 13-12. After the Knights extended its lead to 15-12, the Hurricane used 5-0 run to take back the lead, 17-15, and force the home side to use its final timeout. UCF kept the frame close and eventually tied it at 21-21.

The Knights saw themselves with three separate match points, before the Hurricane ran off two-straight to take the fourth set to send the match to a fifth.

After a quick 4-1 Knight lead in the fifth, TU rallied off four in a row to force the home side to use an early timeout.

The teams switched courts, as the Hurricane led 8-6.

Later in the frame, the Hurricane saw its 12-9 lead dwindle to 13-12, however, Tulsa rallied off two in a row to take the incredible come-from-behind victory over the top team in the conference.

The match was the closest on the year for the Hurricane, with 48 tie scores and 20 lead changes.

As a team, the Hurricane hit .263, in TU's 10th win in the last 11 matches.

“Hitting .263 is high for us as a unit,” said Wills. “To have five kids with double-digit kills is huge for us. We have to win with balance. We had some huge swings in huge moments and found a way to win.”

The Hurricane will now travel west to take the South Florida Bulls on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

“We have to use this momentum to push forward,” Wills said. “It's an emotional win to come back from 2-0 down. It's also important for us to enjoy this moment, but manage that emotion because this is just the first half of our business trip.”