Tulsa Volleyball Defeats East Carolina, 3-2, in Five Set Thriller

Sunday, October 4

Reynolds Center

1:30 p.m.

Tulsa

7-9, 2-2

East Carolina

8-7, 1-3

East Carolina

Tulsa

Tulsa Volleyball Defeats East Carolina, 3-2, in Five Set Thriller

10/4/2015 5:06:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Drake Allen

PDF BOX SCORE

Tulsa, Okla.— The University of Tulsa volleyball team defeated East Carolina, 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-10, 19-25, 15-11) Sunday at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Junior outside hitter Erica Bohannon recorded 22 kills, and junior libero Brooke Berryhill led the way defensively for TU with 32 digs. The Golden Hurricane improved to 7-9 and 2-2 in American Athletic Conference play, and East Carolina fell to 8-7 and 1-3 in American Athletic Conference play.

"It's important for us to protect our home floor, especially in conference play," Tulsa Head Coach Ryan Wills said. "It wasn't the prettiest at times, but we really found a way to compete in the fifth set, clean some things up, and come up with the fifth set."

In the initial frame, Tulsa trailed early with the score at 10-5 but the Hurricane battled back to tie the score at 18-18, 20-20, and 21-21. The Hurricane went on to score two more points, but it wasn't enough as ECU ended the set 25-23. Senior middle blocker Ashley Hooper and Bohannon tallied four and five kills in the set, respectively. Hooper had an impressive .800 hitting percentage on five attacks.

In the second stanza, Tulsa took an early 12-6 lead and they extended the lead late to 19-11. The Pirates battled back to bring the score within three points at 23-20. Back-to-back kills from Hooper ended the set 25-20 tying the match score at 1-1 going into intermission. Hooper recorded seven more kills for TU, while Berryhill tallied eight digs.

The third frame was the most convincing as the Hurricane took an early 12-5 lead, and they extended the lead late to 18-8. TU scored six of the last nine points to end the set at 25-10. Bohannon recorded five more kills for Tulsa, while Berryhill tallied six more digs. The Hurricane had a hitting percentage of .263 limiting the Pirates to a -.088 hitting percentage in the set.

In the fourth stanza, Tulsa trailed early with the score at 10-14 and ECU maintained the lead late with the score at 22-16. TU went on to score three more points on ECU, but it wasn't enough as the Pirates ended the set 25-19 tying the match at 2-2 going into the final set. Bohannon recorded five more kills for the Hurricane, while Berryhill tallied an impressive nine digs in the set.

In the final frame, Tulsa at the midpoint 8-5 and coming out of the court switch TU maintained the lead with the score at 10-7. ECU would bring the score within one point at 10-9. The Hurricane went on to score five of the last eight points to end the set 15-11 and the match 3-2. Freshman outside hitter Emily Thorson delivered a crushing kill from the right side to end the match.

Bohannon recorded 22 kills in the match which allowed her to pass the 1,000 career kills marker. She has 1,014 kills in her career at TU. "She's one of the best offensive weapons in the league," Wills said. "When she's on, she is extremely hard to stop because she has so many different weapons that she can bring to the table."

The Hurricane plays again at the Donald W. Reynolds Center next weekend when they take on UConn Friday at 7 p.m. and Temple Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

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.