Tulsa
Tulane (C-USA Tournament)
Cinderella Lives at C-USA Championship
11/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 18, 2005
Box Score
Houston, Texas - One of the hardest things to do it sports is beat the same team three times in the same season. The University of Tulsa volleyball team experienced just that in a 3-2 (26-30, 30-25, 21-30, 30-23, 15-13) loss to Tulane on Friday night at the Conference USA Volleyball Championship in Houston, Texas. Tulsa had swept the season series with the Green Wave with a 3-0 win at Tulsa and a 3-1 victory at College Station, Texas.
Tulane becomes the first 11th-seed in the history of the tournament to qualify for the semi-finals. The Green Wave, winning for the fifth time this season, were also the first 11th seed to win a first-round match on Thursday, when Tulane defeated host Rice.
Sophomore Julia Silva broke the school record for assists in a season with 58 during the contest. She need only 19 assists to become the second TU player to post more than 1,300 assists in a season, and 24 assists to break Shannon Smith's season record of 1,304 set in 2000. Silva also posted her third triple-double of the season with 10 kills and 14 digs. She is the first TU player to have multiple triples in the same season since Kristien Van Lierop posted 11 during the 1998 season.
In addition to Silva, three other Hurricane hitters posted double-figure kill performances. Senior Dana Weddle recorded 18 kills in her final match at TU. Sophomore Kassiana Urnau recorded a double-double with 17 kills and 15 digs, while juniors Germana Hilario and Amy Meyer added 12 and 11 kills apiece.
Senior Evyn Wills posted a match-high 28 digs, finishing the season with a school record 531 digs this season. Her 1,590 career digs is also a school record.
The Golden Hurricane won nearly every statistical category, including an 82-71 advantage in kills and a .261-.255 advantage in hitting percentage. However, 13 service aces by Tulane along with 29 hitting errors, eight serving errors and three blocking errors spelled a long night for the Hurricane.
Tulsa won the first game of the contest, for the 21st time this season and won the third game of the match for the 23rd time this season. However, the Hurricane lost for the first time this season when it won both the first and third stanzas.
