Tulsa Volleyball Sweeps Central Arkansas

The University of Tulsa volleyball team swept host school Central Arkansas, 26-24, 25-13, 25-22, Saturday afternoon, finishing a perfect 3-0 weekend at the Sugar Bear Classic and improving to 5-1 on the year after the second weekend of the season.

Valerie El Houssine took home the Tournament MVP, after totaling 28 kills, a team-high 43 digs, and eight blocks, while Erica Bohnannon (38 kills, 13 digs, 7 blocks) and Bailey Clampitt (108 assists) were named to the All-Tournament Team.

In Saturday's match, Bohannon and Ashley Hooper led the Hurricane in kills, with 12 and 10, respectively, while El Houssine added six kills and 17 digs to help lead Tulsa over the Sugar Bears.

Clampitt finished the day with 34 of the teams 35 assists. After the weekend, Clampitt moved to fifth all time in program history in career assists.

“I'm really pleased with the growth of the team over the weekend,” said Head Coach Ryan Wills. “Our growth mentally and physically showed on the court this weekend. We played at a consistent level and we did a good job of keeping ourselves in each set. Our offensive production improved a lot from the first weekend and Bailey's setting was a big reason for that.”

The match's first set was a nail biter from start to finish, as the home team controlled the score line up until the end of the frame. UCA jumped out to a 13-8 lead on TU, before Wills called the first timeout of the match. After the break, TU battled back to tie the set at 17-17, thanks to Hooper, Bohannon and El Houssine recording two kills each in that span.

Down, 22-21, TU's Nicole Newton ran off two-straight kills to give the Hurricane their first lead of the match. Later in the set with the score knotted at 24-24, a UCA attack error followed by a big Hooper kill, her fifth in the set, gave Tulsa opening set. Bohannon finished the frame strong, with six kills on 10 attempts and recorded a hitting percentage of .500.

The second set was dominated by TU, as the Sugar Bears struggled offensively. As a team, UCA hit -.111 and only recorded six kills. Bohannon finished the set with three kills, while Hooper and Paige Panfil record two kills each.

The Sugar Bears showed fight in the final set jumping out to a 6-3 lead, after Heather Schnars produced four-straight kills for UCA. The Hurricane bounced back going on a 9-4 run, giving themselves a 12-10 lead. TU did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way, as Hooper and Bohannon finished of the match with back-to-back kills to give TU its second-straight sweep.

“It was great environment to play against a team that's known for its success,” said Wills. “It was a hostile environment and it was a good opportunity to go on the road and win.”

The Hurricane will hit the road again next weekend for the Diet Coke Classic, hosted by Minnesota.