Tulsa Suffers Three-Set Setback to SMU

Friday, October 13

Tulsa, Okla.

6:30 p.m.

Tulsa

11-8,4-4AAC

SMU

13-6,7-1AAC

SMU

Tulsa

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Suffers Three-Set Setback to SMU

10/13/2023 9:26:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS

TULSA, Okla. — Against a tough SMU squad, the Tulsa volleyball team fell 3-0 to SMU Friday night in the series-opening match at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The loss drops the Golden Hurricane to 11-8 overall and 4-4 in American Athletic Conference action, while the Mustangs rise to 13-6 overall and 7-1 in league play.

SMU employed a balanced attack and a stout defense, holding Tulsa to .194 while hitting for .342 in the match. Despite Tulsa (124) and SMU (120) having similar attack numbers, the Mustangs' efficient hitting was a key factor in the match.

Graduate outside hitting Kayley Cassaday led the Hurricane offense with 11 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Camryn Lingenbrink added 10 kills, and sophomore hitter Beth Bayless contributed nine.

Senior setter Avery Kalsu averaged 9.33 assists per set en route to a 28-assist performance on the night.

Junior libero Marta Pecalli led the defense with 14 digs, averaging 4.66 digs per set. Cassaday chipped in 11 digs to go with ten digs from sophomore outside hitter Lauren Eitler.

Tulsa's two-match series against SMU continues tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the Reynolds Center.

Game Notes
» Kayley Cassaday (11 kills/11 digs) recorded her ninth double-double of the season.
» Camryn Lingenbrink led the court with a .500 hitting percentage (10 kills/2 errors/16 attempts).
» Three different Hurricane registered double-digit digs (Marta Pecalli (14), Kayley Cassaday (11) and Lauren Eitler (10)).

How It Happened

SET 1 | Tulsa never captured the lead in a competitive opening set that featured 19 kills by the Hurricane and 17 kills from the Mustangs. After trailing 18-11, Tulsa used a 6-0 scoring run to close the gap to 18-17. TU kept the ball alive with 17 digs compared to SMU's 15, but it wasn't enough as the Mustangs committed one less attack error and two fewer serving errors to finish the first set on top 25-23.

SET 2 | The Hurricane could not repeat its strong performance in the second set, landing only eight kills and committing eight attack errors. SMU scored the first point and never looked back, taking set two 25-13 to increase the lead to 2-0.

SET 3 | TU never found its footing as SMU would turn out a 25-18 performance in the third set to complete the sweep. Marta Pecalli dug out seven attacks, and Beth Bayless knocked away four kills before the Mustangs closed out the set and the match.

Tulsa   23        13        18
SMU    25        25        25