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Tulsa
SMU
Complete Sweep, Tulsa Advances at C-USA Championship
11/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 17, 2006
Box Score
Houston, Texas - Junior Julia Silva proved why she was the Conference USA Setter of the Year by posting 28 assists and 10 kills in a 3-0 (30-21, 30-16, 30-15) win over SMU in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Championship in Hofheinz Pavillion in Houston. Tulsa impoves to 27-6 on the year, while SMU finishes 2006 with a 17-15 record.
The first-team All-C-USA performer actually had as many assists as the Mustangs had kills, as the Golden Hurricane held SMU to a .057 hitting percentage. Leading the league with the lowest opponent hitting percentage, it was the ninth time TU held an opponent under .100 hitting this season.
Senior Amy Meyer and junior Kassiana Urnau also posted double-figures in kills, along with Silva, with 11 kills apiece. Urnau recorded her 21st double-double of the season with 11 digs as well. Sophmore Kelsey Wood contributed nine digs also for the Hurricane.
The match did not open well for the Hurricane, as SMU jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead helped by a pair of TU errors. TU tied the score at 9-9 on a block by Silva and Ivana Krejcirova. It would be one of seven ties in the game. SMU would hold on to its lead until a service error tied the score again at 16-16. Tulsa followed by taking its first lead at 17-16 on a kill by senior Germana Hilario. The kill was part of a 6-0 TU run, finishing with a service ace by Hilario to make the score 21-16 in favor of the Hurricane. Tulsa would finish off the game with a kill by Krejcirova.
Game No. 2 was back and fourth for the first six points. A kill by Fabiola Nepomuceno gave TU a 4-3 lead, a lead the Hurricane would not relinquish. The Mustangs were able to close the gap at 15-11, before Tulsa went on an 8-0 run for a commanding 23-11 lead. The run featured three service aces by Hilario, who finished the match with a career-best six aces for the match. TU had 15 aces overall on the day, the ninth time this season the Hurricane has reached double-digits in aces. Tulsa actually finished the game with an ace by Urnau.
As it had in the previous games, SMU scored first in the third game of the contest. However, TU quickly scored two for a 2-1 lead thanks to a pair of Hilario kills, and did not give up the lead again. Tulsa was up by as much as 13 (21-8) in the contest, after a kill by Silva off an Urnau dig. After a kill by Meyer and an ace by sophomore Malorey Grove and a tandem block by Silva and Nepomuceno, TU was up 26-11. The teams traded points over the final eight of the match, with Tulsa forcing a bad attack to win the match.
Tulsa, the regular season champion and top-seed, will face the winner of 4th-seed Tulane and 5th-seed UAB in a semifinal match at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
