Tulsa
Fresno State
Volleyball Squad Earns Split on Weekend
11/19/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 19, 2000
The weekend started off promising for that Golden Hurricane volleyball program with an exciting five-game victory over Fresno State (15-13, 12-15, 15-6, 6-15, 15-13). Saturday's match was not as promising, as San Jose State defeated TU in three games (15-10, 15-4, 15-4).
In Friday's match, seen live on Cox Cable Ch. 9, the Hurricane outhit the Bulldogs .213 to .134 with both teams recording 61 kills apiece. Senior Kristien Van Lierop led the TU attack with 16 kills and 25 digs, only two digs shy of her career high. With double figures in kills and digs, Van Lierop recorded her 49th double-double in her career at TU.
Fellow senior Shannon Smith also recorded a double-double with 48 assists and 10 digs. Smith has a team-high 12 double-doubles on the season. She nearly recorded her first triple double as she finished the match with seven kills on 10 attempts for a .700 hitting percentage.
The victory doubled the Hurricane's previous best season in the WAC with four victories. It also marked the best win total for TU since joining any conference, as TU was previously a member of the Missouri Vally Conference. For Fresno State, the loss guarenteed the Bulldogs their first losing season since 1993. It was the first time TU had defeated Fresno State in five matches.
San Jose State came into Saturday's match with a slim lead in the race for second place in the WAC over Nevada. After losing to UTEP on Thurday, the Spartans wanted to rebound quickly. Unfortunately for the Hurricane that is what happened.
In a match that was not the most picturesque, the Spartans took game one with 20 kills and a 280 hitting percentage. TU did have 16 kills, however. In the second game both teams recorded 13 kills apiece. However SJSU outhit TU, .458 to .029 in what turned out to be the turning point of the match. For the rest of the match, Tulsa could get the sideout, but could not seem to score points off the serve.
Van Lierop led Tulsa with nine kills and 10 digs, while Smith added 32 assists. The loss droped TU to 18-13 on the season and closed out TU's WAC campaign with a record of 4-12.
