Tulsa Volleyball Falls in Five-Set Battle on Road to Tulane

Sunday, October 2

New Orleans, La.

1:00 p.m.

Tulsa

13-3, 2-2

Tulane

19-6, 2-2

Tulsa

Tulane

Tulsa Volleyball Falls in Five-Set Battle on Road to Tulane

10/2/2016 3:36:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Riley Ubben

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The University of Tulsa Volleyball team found themselves in another five-set battle on the road, this time against Tulane after falling behind 2-1 in the match. The Hurricane (13-3, 2-2 AAC) battled back to win the fourth set before dropping the fifth as they split a pair of road contests this weekend.

Tulsa found themselves down 8-5 in the first set before three consecutive Tulane errors knotted the set up at 8-8. Trinity Alualu tied things up once again after a Haley Coulter kill at 10-10. A pair of Erica Bohannon kills put the Hurricane up 14-13 and 15-14 before Tulane eventually regained the lead after a TU setting error. Rachel Moore eventually tied the set up at 21-21 after a Tulsa timeout, but Tulane would score the final four points in a 25-21 Green Wave win.

Ashton Anderson served an ace to help the Hurricane tie the second set up at 8-8 after being down early before Moore put Tulsa ahead 10-9. Moore would come through again for Tulsa, this time with an ace to put TU ahead by two before a Tulane attacking error brought the score to 17-14. After Tulane pulled within one, Tulsa responded by scoring five of the next six points due in part to consecuitive Rebecca Reeve kills. Reeve stayed aggressive on the attack, tallying two more kills to put Tulsa ahead 23-18. Three quick Tulane scores forced a Tulsa timeout before Bohannon halted the Green Wave run with her eighth and ninth kill of the day in a 25-23 win.

Tulane controlled the third set throughout, with the last tie coming at 3-3 as the Hurricane never led in the frame. The Green Wave extended their lead to seven at 14-7, their largest advantage of the set up until that point. Tulsa responded with a few runs to pull back within contention, scoring four of the next five points after two Bohannon kills and one from Moore to pull within four, 15-11, but Tulane would extend their lead back to seven after a TU attacking error, 18-11. The Hurricane later scored five straight points capped off by an Alualu kill to bring the score to 18-16, but would not score again in the set as Tulane pulled away 25-16.

The fourth set was back-and-forth to start, with Tulane in slight control until Tulsa took control by stringing together three straight to grab a 10-8 lead. Two Reeve kills and one from Alualu extended the TU lead to four, 15-11, before Tulane eventually pulled within two. Moore pitched in two aces to go along with two Green Wave attacking errors, putting the Hurricane up nine, 22-13 in a 25-17 win.

A few three-point runs by both teams in match-deciding fifth set found it tied up at 6-6 before the squads switched sides tied at 8-8. Alualu put the Hurricane ahead by one, their last lead of the set as Tulane strung together five straight points to go ahead 13-9. Coulter and Jaime Rahilly brought Tulsa back within two, but Tulane would score the final two points of the set in a 15-11 win.

Reeve recorded her second straight double-double in the match, pitching in 15 kills and 23 digs. Bohannon also tallied 15 kills on the day while Brooke Berryhill racked up a match-best 29 digs.

The Hurricane will return home to the Reynolds Center for two matches next weekend, beginning with a contest against Temple on Friday at noon before taking on UConn at noon on Sunday.

Box Score