Volleyball Wins Conference Opener Against Houston

Friday, September 22

Reynolds Center

7:00 pm

Tulsa

7-6, 1-0American

Houston

4-5, 0-1American

Houston

Tulsa

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Volleyball Wins Conference Opener Against Houston

9/22/2017 10:37:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Box score

TULSA, Okla. – The Golden Hurricane played in front of a home crowd for the first time this season. Tulsa defeated Houston, 3-1, behind a collective effort on defense as the Hurricane had four players with double-digit digs.

Tulsa fell behind 2-0 early in the first set, but battled back and eventually took an 11-5 lead. The Golden Hurricane took the first set, 25-20. Emily Thorson paced TU with seven kills and collected four digs. Taylor Horsfall led the team in the first set with six digs, while Mariah Pardo added five digs. Pardo, Horsfall and Lindsey Ledyard all had four assists each.

The Cougars came out swinging in the second set and held a 9-1 lead. Tulsa clawed back into the game and pulled within one, 18-17. Houston eventually took the second set, 25-18. Thorson provided three kills. Pardo notched four assists, while Ledyard had three. Horsfall picked up four digs.

In the third set, the teams battled back and forth until the score was tied at 13-13. The Hurricane went on a 6-0 run and took a 19-13 lead. TU took a 2-1 lead, after it took the third set, 25-19. Thorson led the attack with five kills, while Emily Hubbard added four kills. Pardo assisted on four kills to lead the team. Horsfall collected six digs, but the defense as a whole scooped up 32 digs in the set.

Houston took an early 5-1 lead in the fourth set, but was unable to keep the lead. With TU leading 13-12, the offense picked up and scored seven unanswered points to take a 20-12 lead. Tulsa took the final set, 25-13. Thorson tallied four kills and Pardo assisted on four Hurricane kills. Ledyard came up big defensively in the fourth, as she collected five digs.

The Golden Hurricane and the Cougars racked up 71 digs each. TU held a slight advantage in kills, 44-42. The Hurricane produced more assists than Houston did, 39-37.

Thorson posted a match-high 19 kills and totaled 12 digs for her fourth double-double on the season. Horsfall notched a team-high 17 digs. Pardo earned her second double-double of the season, with a team-high 16 assists and 12 digs. Ledyard achieved her sixth double-double with 13 digs and 12 assists.

Megan Duncan led Houston with 10 kills. Katie Karbo collected a match-high 26 digs.

With the victory, Tulsa improved to 7-6 overall and 1-0 in The American Athletic Conference. The Golden Hurricane returns to action Sunday, Sept. 24, at 1 p.m. at the Reynolds Center. TU will face Tulane in another American matchup.