TU Tops Tulane For First Conference Win

Four Tulsa players recorded double-digit kills, and sophomore Brooke Berryhill tallied 22 digs as part of a 79-dig team effort, to lead Golden Hurricane volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 16-25, 25-16) victory over American Athletic Conference rival Tulane Friday evening at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Sophomore Erica Bohannon led the offensive attack with 13 kills. Senior Valerie El Houssine, and juniors Ashley Hooper and Paige Panfil totaled 10 kills apiece for the Hurricane (9-7, 1-4 American), which picked up its first conference win of the season. El Houssine made it a double-double, adding 14 digs, while senior setter Bailey Clampitt recorded a double-double with 44 assists and 14 digs.

“It was nice. When we got in the locker room we saw some smiling faces,” Tulsa Head Coach Ryan Wills said of getting the first conference win. “We've been through a lot the last two weeks, from a competition standpoint. We decided this week to grind it and compete every day in practice. In the end, we found a way to come up with the victory tonight. We didn't play our best, but defensively we played pretty well – we had almost 20 digs per set and we kept them under a .100 hitting percentage. I'm really happy with the way we came back in the fourth set with a lot of energy and a lot of fight.”

Tulane's Tea Juric recorded a team-high 11 kills and 14 digs, as the Green Wave fell to 4-13 overall and 2-3 in The American.

Tulsa returned to the friendly confines of the Reynolds Center Friday after a two-match road trip, and held its annual pink match, benefiting the Young Survival Coalition. TU used the home crowd advantage and a fast start to snap its four-match losing streak.

The Golden Hurricane totaled 79 digs in the match, forcing Tulane to a .090 attack percentage (34-21-144). Tulsa hit .120 (50-32-150), and recorded six service aces and 9.0 blocks. The Wave totaled 16.0 blocks in the match.

“Our uniforms had ‘fight' on the sleeves, so it was easy just to look down at that and say, hey we have to fight a little bit more,” Wills said of the special pink jerseys Tulsa wore for the occasion. “No one is going to give us any victory. I think we learned that a little bit more in the third set tonight, and in the last couple of weeks. We matured this week as a team. I'm really happy with that growth, and now we have to keep pushing forward.”

The Hurricane roared through the first set, using the benefit of a 7-0 run and converting 66 percent of its sideout opportunities. Panfil picked up five of her kills in the first frame alone, while TU held the visitors to a .034 attack percentage. Tulsa broke a 2-2 tie with Clampitt at the serve, storming ahead to a 9-2 lead. Tulane closed the gap to 10-8, but the Hurricane scored eight of the next 10 points and cruised to the 25-15 win.

Tulsa totaled 31 digs in the second set alone, hit .204 in the frame, and held Tulane to .118 hitting. Berryhill tallied seven digs, Clampitt and El Houssine each had six digs, and Bohannon added four digs with her six kills. TU put away 17 kills and converted sideouts at a .660 rate. The Hurricane pulled away from a 15-14 advantage with four consecutive points, and burst ahead to a 21-16 lead, on its way to the 25-20 win.

Tulane won the third set, taking an 8-3 lead on Tulsa coming out of Intermission. The Green Wave extended its lead to 17-7, and won the frame, 25-16. The Hurricane tallied 20 digs, but Tulane tallied seven blocks and held TU to a -.070 attack percentage in the set.

The Golden Hurricane responded with a long run at the end of the fourth stanza to run away with the set, 25-16, and claim the match, 3-1. Tulsa trailed 8-7 before taking the lead with four straight points. Leading 15-13, TU scored five points in a row, and 10 of the final 13 points to win the set. Bohannon and Berryhill tallied four kills and four digs, respectively, and each team blocks three attacks in the frame.

“We started to serve the ball really well in the fourth set,” said Wills. “That's our strength as a team. We made better choices offensively and served the ball much more aggressively in the fourth set, and we found ourselves happy at the end.”

In addition to her 10 kills, Panfil added two blocks and a pair of digs. She led the Hurricane with a .333 attack percentage, committing just three errors in 21 swings.

“I thought Paige had her best match of the year,” Wills said. “I was really happy, not only with her offensive production, but also her blocking. She was in the right defensive spot a lot, and made some great blocking moves at crucial moments. I've been really happy with her growth over the last couple of weeks, and that was, in my mind, her best match so far.”

El Houssine recorded her sixth double-double of the season, and first since returning to the court Oct. 5 after missing three matches with an injury. Clampitt's double-double Friday was her eighth of the season.

Tulsa plays host to Houston at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Reynolds Center.