Tulsa
Houston
Volleyball Falls to Houston 3-0
11/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 1, 2008
Final Stats
TULSA, Okla. - Senior Beth Hodge recorded 17 kills, but the University of Tulsa volleyball team fell 3-0 (23-25, 18-25, 20-25) to Conference USA foe Houston Saturday evening at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Tulsa (20-8, 7-6 C-USA) lost to Houston (15-11, 7-6 C-USA) at home for the first time since the two teams began playing each other in 2005. In this match, Tulsa was unable to string together enough solid play - from defense, to its attacks on Houston - to generate the points needed to win.
Hodge had 17 kills and hit a .306 attack percentage and sophomore middle hitter Hannah Stout had eight kills against just one error and hit a .389 attack percentage for the match. Freshman setter Rachel Vukson contributed 35 assists and had seven digs, while senior libero Malorey Grove led the defensive effort with eight digs.
As a team, the Golden Hurricane hit a .155 attack percentage (37 kills and 20 attack errors in 110 attempts), and had 36 assists and 31 digs for the match. Houston hit a .324 team attack percentage (50 kills and 16 errors in 105 attempts), with 48 assists and 44 digs as a team, and blocked 8.0 Tulsa attacks.
"We are getting very inconsistent in every facet of our play," said Tulsa head coach Ed Allen. "Our ball control is erratic. Our ability to do anything with our second contact was limited and our hitters just aren't getting much to work with. Our defense didn't touch many balls at the net, and it put a lot of pressure on our back-court defense. We didn't transition attack very well."
In the first set, Houston gained a 2-1 advantage, but Tulsa tied the score at 3-3 on a kill by Stout. The Golden Hurricane took an 8-4 lead on errors by Houston, then held the lead at 11-6 on a kill by junior middle hitter Julia Kenealy and a Houston attack error. However, the Cougars came back and tied the score at 12-12 on a block. With the score tied at 19, Houston took the lead and outscored the Hurricane 6-4 to win the set by a 25-23 score.
The second set, Tulsa spotted Houston a 6-1 lead, before taking a timeout to regroup, but the Hurricane could not pull back into the set. TU climbed to a 9-6 deficit, but Houston built its lead to 14-8. The Cougars gained a lead as large as seven points at 17-10 and 20-13, then held the lead steady for the 25-18 set-two win.
Tulsa fell behind 3-1 in the third set, but tied the score at four apiece on kills by Stout, freshman outside hitter Kelsey Hancock and Hodge. However, Houston gained a lead of 8-5, and led 8-7 when it went on a 9-2 run to build its lead to 17-9. Tulsa scored four straight points on a pair of Houston attack errors and a kill each by Stout and Hodge. The Hurricane was able to keep the game within reach and stayed within five points, but could not make the run it needed to take over the lead and extend the match as Houston won the set 25-20, and the match 3-0.
The Golden Hurricane returns to action next weekend when it makes a road trip to El Paso, Texas, to take on UTEP on Friday at 7 p.m. and New Orleans, where it will tangle with Tulane on Sunday at 1 p.m. All Tulsa home volleyball matches are free to the public. All Golden Hurricane news and information can be found on the web at www.TulsaHurricane.com.
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