Tulsa Advances to NIVC Quarterfinals with Four-Set Win Over Santa Clara

Thursday, December 5

Long Beach, Calif.

9:00 pm CT

Tulsa

17-15,8-8AAC

Santa Clara

21-12,10-8WCC

Tulsa

Santa Clara

Photo by: Doug DeFelice

Tulsa Advances to NIVC Quarterfinals with Four-Set Win Over Santa Clara

12/6/2019 12:25:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Tulsa volleyball team defeated Santa Clara in four sets [25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22] with stifling defensive effort on Thursday night at Walter Pyramid to advance to the third round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC). The Golden Hurricane (17-16, 8-8 The American), who played their first and second round matches on the campus of Long Beach State, will play either Weber State or Wyoming next week on Dec. 9-12. No additional information is available at this time.

With the win, it marks the first time the Golden Hurricane have won multiple matches in a single postseason. Prior to Wednesday's win over UC Davis, Tulsa had won just two first round matches in the NCAA Tournament.

This is also the first meeting between the Golden Hurricane and Broncos (21-12, 10-8 WCC). Coming into the match, Tulsa had played one team from the West Coast Conference this season in Pepperdine, who they beat in five sets to open the 2019 campaign.

The key to victory for the Golden Hurricane was their defensive play. Tulsa combined for 13 total blocks (one solo, 24 block assists) and were the beneficiaries of 14 Santa Clara service errors.

"It was a unique match," Tulsa volleyball head coach Ryan Wills said. They had an injury that completely changed their offense. Once we made our adjustments, we were able to make some key blocks to finish out the match."

After calling a timeout with the Broncos leading 19-17 in the first set, the Golden Hurricane tallied four straight points. Callie Cook connected on lone pair of kills in the stretch, while Santa Clara committed two attacking errors. Despite holding a two-point advantage at 22-19, Tulsa's lead was trimmed to twice more, before a stuff block from Maggie Hembree and Maddie Rhoder gave TU a 1-0 lead in the match.

Tulsa continued to benefit from Santa Clara service errors in the second set, as the Broncos committed five more. Tied at 20 apiece, the Golden Hurricane outscored Santa Clara, 5-2, the rest of the way. Dilara Gedikoglu put Tulsa up 2-0 in the match with a service ace.

Santa Clara led for the entire third set, but the Golden Hurricane rallied late, attempting to complete the sweep. Down 23-17, Tulsa closed the gap to one with a 5-0 run. Cook tallied one kill and a solo block. Alongside Rhoder, the two combined for a block at 23-20. Gedikoglu recorded a kill, and Hannah Overmyer had a service ace. Cook and Rhoder would again combine for a block at 24-23.

"We talked going into the match that they served the ball well and block the ball well," Wills said. "Our team, especially in the first couple sets executed extremely well, putting the ball where we wanted it offensively. That's also some of the reasons why we were able to have some success in the third set."

The two teams ended the night combining for 21 ties and nine lead changes. In the fourth set alone, Tulsa and Santa Clara were tied eight times and exchanged leads four times.

Down 14-13, the Golden Hurricane would go on a run, scoring six of seven points for a 19-15 advantage. Tulsa did not trail for the rest of the match. However, Santa Clara didn't go away. The Broncos cut the TU lead to two at 20-18 and 24-22. Following Tulsa's second timeout of the set, the Broncos recorded their 14th service error of the night to end the match.

Tulsa finished with a .196 hitting percentage (47 kills, 20 errors, 138 total attempts), while holding Santa Clara to a .179 attacking clip (56 kills, 29 errors, 151 total attacks). The Broncos tallied six service aces to four for the Golden Hurricane, but committed 14 service errors to just five for TU.

The Broncos, who are one of the best blocking teams in the nation, were held to just eight total blocks vs. 13 total rejections for the Golden Hurricane. Santa Clara entered the match ranked 20th in blocks per set (2.66).

Cook, Hembree, and Rhoder each recorded six block assists. Cook also had a solo block.

The junior middle blocker hit .750 for a team-high 12 kills on 16 swings with zero errors. Cook is four block assists away from setting a new single-season record.

Taylor Horsfall led all players with 16 digs. She now stands 17 digs shy of breaking the program record for career digs.

Overmyer finished just short of a double-double with nine kills and eight digs. Mariah Pardo registered a team-high 18 assists, followed by Roosa Rautio with 15.

To keep up with the latest news on Tulsa volleyball, visit TulsaHurricane.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.