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Tulsa
UAB
Tulsa Falls in Semifinals of C-USA Championship
11/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 18, 2006
Houston, Texas - The University of Tulsa volleyball team ran into a buzzsaw in the semifinals of the Conference USA Championship in Houston on Saturday. UAB entered the match with an 11-match win streak and seeking revenge for a TU victory on Oct. 15. The Blazers scorched the Hurricane for a 3-1 (30-24, 27-30, 30-24, 30-23).
UAB took advantage of 13 Tulsa hitting errors, including six Blazer blocks, in the first game. TU out killed the fifth-seed 18-13 in the opening contest with the help of its one-two punch in senior Germana Hilario and junior Kassiana Urnau as the two Brazilians posted five kills apiece. However, TU could not overcome a .114 hitting percentage.
The game was close through out with seven ties and three lead changes. Tulsa tied the scoere at 20-20 on a by junior Julia Silva. However a quick 3-0 run for UAB, including a pair of kills and a team block, gave the Blazers the lead for good.
Game No. 2 was much of the same, with 11 ties and six lead changes in the contest. Down by one at 23-22, Tulsa went on a 5-0 run, started by a kill from Fabiola Nepomuceno. Two Urnau kills and a Nepomuceno ace later, TU found itself up 27-23. The teams traded points before Hilario was able to square the match at 1-1 for the Hurricane.
Following the break, the Blazers were able to quickly grab the momentum back going up by as many as 11 at 25-14. Tulsa closed to 12-11 on an Urnau kill. UAB went on a 6-0 run to take control, including four attacking errors and one service error by the Hurricane. Tulsa was able to force a UAB timeout by pulling to within 25-18, with both teams having 12 kills apiece. However, the Blazers three hitting errors loomed large compared to the Hurricane's nine hitting errors and three service errors at that point in the contest.
The final game was once again owned by the Blaxers and the Hurricane finished with more errors than kills. UAB was up by as many as nine at 20-11 after a setting error by TU and by eight at 22-14 following a attack error by the Hurricane. However three over passes by the Blazers allowed for three quick TU points to pull the Hurricane within five at 22-17. Tulsa continued the run, 6-0 in all to pull within 22-20, thanks to a pair of kills by Urnau and senior Ivana Krejcirova. That would be as close as TU could get however, as the Blazers finished off the match after an attack error by the Hurricane.
For the match, Tulsa had 42 hitting errors. It was only the second time this season TU recorded over 40 errors in a match and was the most for the Hurricane this year. Tulsa reached the 50-kill plateau for the 24th time this season. TU also posted more kills than its opponent for the 26th time this season, out killing the Blazers 60-57. UAB also held TU to its lowest hitting percentage of the season at .098, the first time TU hit under .100 all year.
Urnau led TU with 20 kills and 18 digs for her 22nd double-double of the season, the second most in the conference this season. Silva posted her 20th double-double of the season with 48 assists and 14 digs. Tulsa was the only team in the conference to have more than one player with 20-or more double-doubles.
Nepomuceno contributed 11 kills, while sophomore Kelsey Wood also reached double-figures with 13 digs.
The win atones for a TU sweep earlier in the season. It was the last time UAB lost, as TU defeated the Blazers 3-0 (30-23, 30-23, 30-20) in Birmingham.
Tulsa finishes the season with a 27-7 record and the C-USA regular season title. UAB, winning its 12th consecutive match, improves to 26-9 on the year and will advance to Sunday's conference title match at 5 p.m.
