Tulsa Volleyball Tops UConn in Five Sets

Friday, October 9

Reynolds Center

7:00 p.m.

Tulsa

8-9, 3-2

UConn

7-9, 1-4

UCONN

Tulsa

Tulsa Volleyball Tops UConn in Five Sets

10/9/2015 10:14:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Drake Allen

PDF BOX SCORE

TULSA, Okla. — Junior outside hitter Erica Bohannon recorded 21 kills and junior libero Brooke Berryhill tallied a season-high 38 digs to lead the Golden Hurricane to a 3-2 (21-25, 25-14, 25-20, 16-25, 16-14) win over American Athletic Conference opponent UConn on Friday evening at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

The Golden Hurricane improved to 8-9 overall and 3-2 in conference play, while the Huskies fell to 7-9 overall and 1-4 in conference play.

Sophomore setter Sophie Bethke recorded a double-double with 46 assists and 14 digs, and added five kills on .444 hitting. Junior outside hitter Rebecca Reeve added a double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs, and senior middle blocker Ashley Hooper put up 14 kills with a .400 attack percentage.

"We are really experienced in five set matches, and tonight's match was our fourth conference match that went five sets," Head Coach Ryan Wills said. "Serving and passing game broke down which is why we went five sets. In the end we found a way to win the fifth set, and I am not exactly sure how because they had a .333 hitting percentage in the last set. We made some key plays in some key moments, and we passed better in the fifth set which allowed some of our players to come up with kills. Hooper started off the fifth set with a big kill and that gave us some momentum and energy to start the set."

In the first frame, Tulsa came out strong, maintaining the advantage through the first part of the set to earn a 13-9 lead. UConn rallied with a four-point run, and the teams battled back and fourth for the next six points to a 19-19 tie. The Golden Hurricane led with a .229 hitting percentage on 15 kills to UConn's .219 percentage on 11 kills, but it was not enough as Tulsa dropped the frame 25-21.

The Golden Hurricane dominated the second set with a .321 hitting percentage on 11 kills, while limiting UConn to a -.059 attack percentage. Bohannon led the team with seven kills, and Berryhill had seven of the team's 14 digs. TU jumped out to a 9-3 lead, extended it to 17-11, and then scored five straight points to make the score 22-11 on its way to the 25-14 set win.

In the third frame, Tulsa had 14 kills and a hitting percentage of .233. The team held UConn to a .102 percentage on 10 kills, and Berryhill led defensively with 12 of the team's 30 digs. UConn rallied late in the set, pushing the score to 24-20, but Bohannon delivered a crushing kill to end the game.

Tulsa took an early 5-1 lead in the fourth stanza, forcing a UConn timeout. Both teams battled through the middle of the set to a 14-14 tie. The Huskies then went on a scoring run, allowing only two more sideouts for the Golden Hurricane through the end of the set and finishing the frame 25-16. UConn had a .308 hitting percentage, while limiting Tulsa to .108 hitting on 10 kills.

In the final stanza, Tulsa gained the lead, 8-6, at the midpoint. UConn fought back and tied the score at 14-14, but a service error gave the ball back to the Hurricane. A hard serve by junior outside hitter Trinity Alualu forced an overpass, which Hooper answered by slamming home a kill to end the set, 16-14.

The Hurricane is back in action at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Sunday at 1:30pm as they take on conference leader Temple.

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