Tulsa Battles in 3-1 Loss to Wichita State

Friday, October 20

Wichita, Kan.

7:00 p.m.

Tulsa

11-10,4-6AAC

Wichita State

14-5,8-1AAC

Tulsa

Wichita St.

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Battles in 3-1 Loss to Wichita State

10/20/2023 10:03:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS

WICHITA, Kan. — The Tulsa volleyball team engaged with Wichita State for the 54^th time in the overall series Friday night and came up short 3-1 (13-25, 25-17, 14-25, 22-25) in the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita. The loss drops the Golden Hurricane to 11-10 and 4-6 in American Athletic Conference action, while the Shockers improve to 14-5 overall and 8-1 in league play.

Wichita State's tough defense was on full display, limiting Tulsa's scoring opportunities with 81 digs. Four different Shockers had 11 or more digs on the night to hold Tulsa to a .167 hitting percentage.

Avery Kalsu was the Hurricane's offensive general, coming away with 45 assists in setting up five different Hurricane attackers and averaging 11.25 assists per set. The senior setter also added eight digs on the defensive side.

Hitters Kayley Cassaday (18) and Beth Bayless (14) scored for Tulsa with 32 combined kills from the outsides. On defense, Cassaday contributed 9 digs, while Bayless recorded a block assist alongside sophomore middle blocker Arianna Mongare.

Mongare was an anchor for the front row, tying her career-high of seven block assists while landing seven kills of her own. Senior middle Regan Pendleton had three block assists, while Cassaday and sophomore middle Camryn Lingenbrink each recorded a solo rejection.

Junior libero Marta Pecalli led the way with 16 digs at a four-digs-per-set average.

Tulsa's two-match series at Wichita State continues Saturday at 6 p.m.

Game Notes
» Arianna Mongare tied her career-high in block assists with seven.
» Kayley Cassaday led the floor with 18 kills.
» Camryn Lingenbrink hit without an error on the night, landing seven kills in 14 attempts (.500).
» The overall series moves to 39-15 Wichita State.
» As a team, Tulsa set a season-high in total attacks in a four-set match (168).
» Avery Kalsu set a season high in assists in a four-set match (45).

How It Happened

SET 1 | Tulsa slipped early in the match as the first set went to the Shockers 25-13. Tulsa never held the lead as Wichita State hit for .400 in the set while holding TU to .108.

SET 2 | The Hurricane responded in the second set with 17 kills to go with two service aces and three blocks. Tulsa scored the first point of the stanza and never looked back, cruising to a 25-17 set win to knot up the match at 1-1. Avery Kalsu had a whopping 16 assists to help the Hurricane to a .333 hitting average to close out the set.

SET 3 | The momentum flipped back to Wichita State as the Shockers ran away with the third set 25-13 to go up 2-1. The Shockers had 27 digs in the set and held Tulsa to a .045 hitting percentage. Tulsa's eight kills and four blocks weren't enough to keep up with the Wichita State attack.

SET 4 | In the most competitive set of the night, Tulsa and Wichita State battled through 11 tie scores and four lead changes. Kayley Cassaday had eight kills while Avery Kalsu put up 14 assists in the set. The Shockers broke the tie at 11-11 and maintained no more than a four-point lead for the rest of the stanza to seal away the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.

Tulsa               13        25        14        22
Wichita State 25        17        25        25