Tulsa
Houston
Volleyball Falls to Houston 3-1 in C-USA Quarterfinals
11/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2008
Final Stats
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Freshman outside hitter Kelsey Hancock slammed a career-high 21 kills, but the fifth-seed University of Tulsa volleyball team fell 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 23-25, 22-25) to fourth-seeded Houston in the Quarterfinals of the 2008 Conference USA Volleyball Championship Friday afternoon at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
With the loss, the Golden Hurricane completes its season 22-11, the fourth straight campaign in which it has won 20 or more matches, the best such run in school history. Houston, now 19-11 on the season, moves on to face Tulane in the tournament semifinals. The match was the third time this season Tulsa has lost to Houston.
"I thought Houston came out very prepared to play," said Tulsa head coach Ed Allen. "The beginning of the game was very sluggish for us in terms of working our feet and we found ourselves down 5-0, 6-0 and then 9-1. Out of those nine points, six of them we didn't even have a chance on.
"Our mental preparation to begin that match was probably less than our best effort. I think our kids settled down and played strong in game two. We had game three in a good position and had it as 23-23 and let the setter come up with something pretty easy. I thought our competitive effort for the match was as good as we have seen throughout the course of the season. I think our execution in critical times could have been better."
Hancock's 21 kills was also a match-high, as she hit a .318 attack percentage for the match. Senior outside hitter Beth Hodge recorded 17 kills and 16 digs, for her 16th double-double of the season, in the final match of her career. Sophomore middle hitter Hannah Stout tallied 12 kills and hit a .429 attack percentage. Freshman setter Rachel Vukson contributed 49 assists to the offensive effort.
Defensively, seniors Malorey Grove and Kelsey Wood wrapped their collegiate careers with 17 and 11 digs, respectively. Middle hitter Julia Kenealy (four block assists) and junior outside hitter Jennifer Eichler (one solo, three assists) each had four blocks for the match.
As a team, the Golden Hurricane hit a .259 attack percentage with 59 kills and 21 attack errors in 147 total attempts, and totaled 51 assists, 68 digs and 7.0 blocks. Houston, meanwhile, hit a .289 attack percentage as a team, with 60 kills and 16 attack errors in 152 total attempts, and totaled 54 assists, 54 digs and 10.0 blocks.
In the first set, Tulsa fell behind 5-0, and then 10-1, and could not overcome that deficit. Houston kept a steady lead, holding off the Golden Hurricane with an eight- to-nine point spread between the two teams. The Cougars cruised to a 25-19 set win.
The second set was much different, as Tulsa went ahead 2-0 on a kill by Kenealy and a service ace by Vukson. Houston tied the score at two apiece, and the foes stayed close throughout the set. With the score tied 9-9, Tulsa took the lead on a kill by Eichler, and made the score 12-10 on a kill by Kenealy.
Houston tied the score at 12-12, and took a 13-12 lead, but TU took the lead back at 23-22 on a kill by Hodge. The hurricane then scored two of the next three points to win the set 25-23. In the second set, the score was tied 15 times, and the lead changed hands twice.
The third set was very similar to the second, as Tulsa took a 1-0 lead on a kill by Hancock and Houston came back with a kill of its own. The two teams battled it out for the set, tying the score 14 times and exchanging the lead five times. With the score 23-21 Houston, the Hurricane scored two straight on kills by Hancock and Hodge to tie the score, but the Cougars took the final two points and the set 25-23.
As close as the second and third sets were, the fourth may have been even tighter. Neither team ever held a lead larger than two points until the final score, as the rivals tied 18 times, and featured six lead changes. The back and forth battle ended with Houston on top, after scoring six of the final eight points to win the set. Tulsa led 21-19, but after a UH timeout, the Cougars scored twice to tie, and scored the next four points against one Hancock kill to take the set 25-22 and the match 3-1. The match featured a total of 47 ties and 13 lead changes.
The loss wraps up the season for the Golden Hurricane, which ended the season with a 9-10 record in the second half of the schedule. The team will go into the offseason trying to regain the form with which it played in 2006 and 2007 and began in 2008.
"I think we are looking to certainly rebuilding this program and putting it back into position where we are capable of competing for another conference championship," Allen said. "We find ourselves in a pretty unusual place this season. In the three years that we have been here this is the first year we haven't won a championship. We are trying to regroup and try to do the kinds of things that will put us in a position there. We fundamentally have some things we have to work on in the spring and we have got plenty of time to do that."
For all Tulsa volleyball news and information, visit www.TulsaHurricane.com.
