Volleyball Unable to Gain Traction in 3-1 Loss to Florida Atlantic

Friday, October 6

Boca Raton, Fla.

5:00 p.m.

Tulsa

10-7,3-3AAC

Florida Atlantic

11-8,3-3AAC

Tulsa

Fla. Atlantic

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Volleyball Unable to Gain Traction in 3-1 Loss to Florida Atlantic

10/6/2023 8:02:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS

BOCA RATON, Fla. — The Tulsa volleyball team attempted to spark a comeback but fell short of their goal Friday night, suffering a 3-1 (19-25, 17-25, 27-25, 17-25) setback to the Florida Atlantic Owls in Boca Raton. The loss drops the Golden Hurricane to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Owls move to 11-8 overall and 3-3 in league action.

Graduate outside hitter Kayley Cassaday paced the Hurricane offense with 19 kills with only four errors for a .294 hitting percentage. She also chipped in a team-high 13 digs on the night, for her eighth double-double of the year.

Avery Kalsu accounted for 38 assists on the night at an average of 9.5 assists per set. The senior setter also added seven digs on the defensive side of the ball.

Junior Tytiana Johnson stepped up for the TU defense, leading the court with a block solo and five block assists. Johnson was efficient in the attack as well, knocking away six kills in 11 attempts. Sophomore right side hitter Jolana Smidlova and sophomore middle blocker Arianna Mongare each recorded four block assists.

Junior libero Marta Pecalli dug up nine balls, while sophomores Lauren Eitler and Brayden Hipp each had eight digs.

Tulsa will conclude its road stretch on Sunday against the UAB Blazers (2-15, 0-5 AAC). The match will kick off in Birmingham, Ala., at 1 p.m.

Game Notes
» Kayley Cassaday (19 kills/13 digs) recorded her eighth double-double of the year—a team-leading mark tied with teammate Avery Kalsu.
» Tytiana Johnson led the court with six blocks (1 block solo and five block assists).
» Jolana Smidlova had a career-high four block assists.
» Tulsa won the blocking battle, putting up 11.5 blocks to FAU's five.
» The Owls amassed 63 kills and kept the ball alive with 75 digs. TU had 46 kills and 60 digs.

How It Happened

SET 1 | Tulsa and FAU exchanged seven tie scores and three lead changes before the Owls grabbed the advantage at 12-11 and pulled away from there, leading by as many as six points at 21-15 before closing out the first set 25-19 to go up 1-0 on the Hurricane. Kayley Cassaday had six kills, while Avery Kalsu had 11 assists. FAU's Victoria Hensley fueled the Owls' offense with 17 assists in the stanza.

SET 2 | The Hurricane scored the first point, but Florida Atlantic took over at 2-1 and never gave up the lead in a set that featured 11 assists by Avery Kalsu and kills by five different TU attackers. The Owls held Tulsa to a .189 hitting percentage as they finished the set on top 25-17 to increase their lead in the match to 2-0.

SET 3 | Tulsa started a comeback attempt in the third set, battling to a 27-25 set score to make the score 2-1. The Hurricane had a 14-11 lead before the Owls closed the gap. From there, neither team led by more than three points until the set was tied at 25-25. An attack error by FAU's Valeria Rosado followed by a Tytiana Johnson and Jolana Smidlova block gave Tulsa its first set win of the night.

SET 4 | TU was unable to hold the momentum in the fourth and final set, falling 25-17 to seal the 3-1 loss to the Owls. The set featured five tie scores and four lead changes before FAU grabbed control at 8-7 and cruised from there to close out the set. Florida Atlantic led by as many as eight scores at multiple points in the set.

Tulsa                   19     17     27     17
Florida Atlantic   25     25     25     25