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Tulsa
Marshall
Volleyball Beats Marshall, 3-1
10/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 2, 2009
Box Score |
Box Score 
TULSA, Okla. - Freshman Tyler Henderson tallied 21 kills and Jessica Adams recorded 22 digs to lead The University of Tulsa volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-12, 25-21) defeat of Marshall Friday evening at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
The Golden Hurricane, which improved to 11-5 overall and 1-2 in Conference USA play, takes on East Carolina Saturday at 7 p.m.
"We were pleased with the performances of Jen Eichler and Hannah Stout," Tulsa Head Coach Ed Allen said. "Both of those kids continue to do a great job offensively. We did a good job at the service line. I think we did a great job not only eliminating errors, but putting the ball specifically on the people that we wanted to serve the ball to."
Senior Jennifer Eichler recorded 17 kills and 10 digs, and hit .412 (17-3-34) in the match, and junior Hannah Stout tallied 13 kills and hit .417 (13-3-24). Sophomore Rachel Vukson had 31 assists, and freshman Jordan Clampitt contributed 19 assists. Sophomore Kelsey Hancock and freshman Shelbi Pitcher picked up 15 and 13 digs, respectively.
Tulsa hit .278 for the match (59-19-144) with 59 kills, 56 assists, 80 digs and 10 blocks. Marshall, which came into the match tied for first in C-USA at 3-0, falls to 15-3 overall and 3-1 in league play. The Thundering Herd hit .166 (51-24-163) with 51 kills, 48 assists, 56 digs and seven blocks.
"It's nice to get a win," said Allen. "Hopefully that win will allow our players to relax a little bit and to play like they're capable of playing. We've gotten into a stretch of about five or six matches, where we just don't feel like we're playing the kind of volleyball that we are capable of playing. It's about revolving around the ability to be consistent in all levels of play."
Tulsa scored the first three points of the match and opened up a 5-1 lead in the first set. Marshall came back to tie at 5-5, and the scored stayed within four points until TU held a one-point lead at 13-12. The Hurricane then scored five in a row, and in all, went on a 12-3 run to take a 23-15 lead. The Herd made the set closer by scoring five of six points, but TU got a kill from Stout for the final point and won the set, 25-21.
Just as Tulsa started set one with a mini run, Marshall scored four straight to open set two and took a 5-1 lead. The Golden Hurricane pulled to within two points on a few occasions early on, but the Herd kept pulling away and took a 13-9 lead. Tulsa stayed close and the deficit fluctuated between two and four points most of the way. Marshall expanded its lead to 22-17 before TU scored three in a row, but it was not enough as Marshall took the set, 25-22.
Coming out of the intermission, Tulsa went on to dominate the third set. The score was close early, but at 9-6, The Golden Hurricane went on an 11-3 run, including seven in a row, to take a 20-9 lead. TU never looked back, and scored five of the final eight points to take the set, 25-12.
Tulsa needed a comeback to close out the match in four sets. It took a quick lead the fourth, but fell behind 9-5. Marshall held an 11-7 lead before the Golden Hurricane stormed back, scoring 11 of the next 12 points to take an 18-12 advantage. The Thundering Herd came back to pull to within four at 24-20, but Eichler slammed home the final point for a 25-21 set win.
"We're looking for our upperclassmen to step up and provide not only the leadership that we need, but to do the physical things that are necessary to win matches," said Allen. "We need to see our team play at a very high level competitively, and in particular the defensive effort sustained throughout the course of an entire match. We need to begin to see freshmen adjusting to the level of play here and begin playing with a sense of confidence.
Admission to all TU home volleyball matches is free. For all Tulsa volleyball news and information, visit www.TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane. Become a fan of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane page on Facebook - search "Tulsa Golden Hurricane."
