Tulsa Volleyball Falls to Cincinnati in Five Set Thriller

Sunday, October 25

Reynolds Center

1:30 p.m.

Tulsa

10-12, 5-5

Cincinnati

14-7, 6-4

CIN

Tulsa

Tulsa Volleyball Falls to Cincinnati in Five Set Thriller

10/25/2015 6:33:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Drake Allen

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TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa volleyball team had three players that recorded double-digit kills, but it wasn't enough as they lost to American Athletic Conference foe Cincinnati, 3-2 (20-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-20, 16-18), Sunday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Junior outside hitters Erica Bohannon and Rebecca Reeve tallied 29 and 12 kills, respectively, while senior middle blocker Ashley Hooper picked up 13 kills and hit an imposing .423 percentage for the Golden Hurricane (10-11, 5-4 American). TU hit a .246 percentage, with 70 kills and 24 errors on 187 attempts, while the Bearcats hit a .221 attacking percentage (62-22-181) as they improved to 14-7 overall and 6-4 in the conference.

"I think this was one of our better offensive hitting performances, especially the last three sets," Head Coach Ryan Wills said. "A lot of that has to do with Sophie and her ability to deliver a good ball. I think that it could have been a lot better, but we struggled in the serve receive for a lot of the match so we couldn't get Ashley the ball as much as we would have liked to. As Hooper got to get more involved in the offense in the third and fourth sets and even the fifth we had a lot more success. Happy with our offensive production, but we just didn't come up with as many defensive plays as we needed in the end."

Bohannon's season-high 29 kills put her at 1,106 career kills which was enough to secure the fifth spot on TU's career kill list passing Kassiana Urnau (2003-06). The talented outside hitter is just 11 kills away from passing Hannah Stout (2007-10) for the number four spot on TU's career kill list, and she is 59 kills away from passing Kellie Culbertson (2010-13) for the number three spot.

In the initial frame, Tulsa had a .243 attacking percent on 14 kills, while Cincinnati hit .361 with 15 kills. The contest was a deadlock at the midway point of the set with the score tied at 13-13. The Bearcats took a four point lead making the score 20-16, before the Hurricane fought back to bring the score within three at 23-20. A Cincinnati kill and a TU attacking error ended the set 25-20 as the Bearcats took a 1-0 match lead.

The second stanza was arguably the most competitive as there were 13 tying scores and 10 lead changes. The Hurricane hit .208 and tallied 17 kills as the Bearcats hit .273 on 14 kills. Both teams battled hard as the score was tied at 7-7 and 15-15, and the set would remain close late with tying scores at 18-18 and 20-20. The Bearcats scored five of the last six points to end the set 25-21 as they took a 2-0 match advantage going into intermission.

In the third set, Tulsa came out looking for redemption as they hit an impressive .385 on 17 kills while limiting the Bearcats to a .146 hitting percentage on 13 kills. Bohannon led TU in kills in the frame registering seven, while juniors Brooke Berryhill and Trinity Alualu tabbed five digs. The frame was close early with the score tied at 10-10, before TU took a four point lead at 16-14. Tulsa extended the lead late to seven at 22-15, before ending the set at 25-17 to make the match score 2-1.

In the fourth frame, Tulsa continued their offensive rhythm as they hit a .278 percentage on 15 kills, while limiting Cincinnati to a .147 hitting percentage on 11 kills. The Hurricane took a commanding lead early with the score at 14-6, and it maintained the lead late in the set with the score at 20-12. Hooper delivered a huge kill up the middle to end the set 25-20 tying the match score at 2-2.

In the final stanza, the score was tied early at 5-5, before Tulsa took a two point lead at 10-8. Both teams battled late in the frame with tying scores at 12-12 and 16-16, before a Cincinnati ended the set at 18-16 winning the match 3-2.

The Hurricane will return to the Donald W. Reynolds Center to take on SMU at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28.

Follow Tulsa Volleyball on Twitter (http://twitter.com/TulsaVolleyball) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/TulsaVolleyball). Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane.