Hurricane Falls in Three Sets to Wichita State

Saturday, October 21

Wichita, Kan.

6:00 p.m.

Tulsa

11-11,4-7AAC

Wichita State

15-5,9-1AAC

Tulsa

Wichita St.

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Hurricane Falls in Three Sets to Wichita State

10/21/2023 8:41:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS

WICHITA, Kan. — The Tulsa volleyball team started the day looking to bounce back from a four-set loss on Friday but fell 3-0 (17-25, 14-25, 17-25) Saturday night in the series finale to Wichita State. The Golden Hurricane drops to 11-11 overall and 4-7 in American Athletic Conference action, while the Shockers grab their seventh consecutive win to move to 15-5 and 9-1 in league play.

Wichita State took control of the match on both sides of the ball, hitting for .302 in the match while limiting Tulsa to .142 using 64 digs. Three Shockers kept the ball alive with ten or more digs each. Despite Tulsa (120) and Wichita State (116) having similar attack numbers, it was the Shockers who found openings more often than the Hurricane, landing 48 kills to Tulsa's 30.

Junior libero Marta Pecalli stood out on Tulsa's defense as she dug out 16 Shocker attacks at an above-average mark of 5.33 digs per set. She had ten digs in the second set alone.

Sophomore middle blocker Arianna Mongare went up for a court-leading six blocks, all assists. She now leads the Hurricane with 76 blocks on the season and improves to 0.95 blocks per set.

The Tulsa attack was led by graduate outside hitter Kayley Cassaday, who slammed down 12 kills to go with a team-leading two service aces. With four block assists under her belt, she ended the day with 16 points for TU. Senior setter Avery Kalsu had 25 assists in setting up six different Hurricane attackers, eclipsing 2,100 career assists as a Golden Hurricane.

Tulsa will be back on the court early next week as the Hurricane takes on the Oklahoma Sooners (7-11, 1-8 Big 12) Tuesday at 6 p.m. for an in-state, nonconference showdown in Norman. Then, TU will return to the Donald W. Reynolds Center to host South Florida (13-8, 7-3 AAC) Friday, Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m., and East Carolina (18-4, 9-2 AAC) Sunday, Oct. 29, at noon.

Game Notes
» Avery Kalsu (2,101) passed the 2,100 career-assist mark.
» Arianna Mongare led the floor with six blocks.
» Tulsa won the blocking battle 8-7.
» The overall series moves to 40-15 Wichita State.

How It Happened

SET 1 | Wichita State grabbed the advantage at 3-2 and never gave up control in the first set, leading by as many as nine points before closing out 25-17 to go up 1-0 on Tulsa. The Shockers came out swinging, putting away 14 kills and hitting for a match-high .333 attack average. The Hurricane's offensive efficiency was limited by seven attack errors.

SET 2 | The Shockers kept the momentum in set two. They took the lead at 2-1 and never trailed on the way to a 25-14 set score to increase their lead to two. Marta Pecalli was active in the set with ten digs, while Avery Kalsu had eight assists.

SET 3 | The Wichita State onslaught proved to be too much as the Shockers cruised to a 25-17 set three finish to seal the match. Arianna Mongare attempted to jumpstart the Tulsa defense with three consecutive blocks to open the third set, but Wichita State quickly closed the gap and ran away with the set.

Tulsa               17        14        17
Wichita State 25        25        25