TU Volleyball Picks Up 3-1 Victory Over Memphis on Military Appreciation Day

Friday, November 10

Tulsa, Okla.

6:30 p.m.

Tulsa

14-14,7-9AAC

Memphis

8-20,4-12AAC

Memphis

Tulsa

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

TU Volleyball Picks Up 3-1 Victory Over Memphis on Military Appreciation Day

11/10/2023 9:57:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS

TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa volleyball team grabbed a strong 3-1 (25-21, 25-13, 23-25, 25-20) victory over the Memphis Tigers at home Friday to kick off Veterans Day weekend. The Golden Hurricane improved to 14-14 overall and 7-9 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Tigers dropped to 8-20 and 4-12 in league action.

"Volleyball is a great sport and sometimes can feel a little too big in life," said sophomore outside hitter Beth Bayless. "So, knowing what my brother has sacrificed to serve our country is so special and puts it in perspective for me that I get to do what I love, and I'm so grateful for it."

Bayless—whose older brother Ben serves in the United States Air Force—finished the day with 13 kills and was one of three Hurricane to reach double digits in kills.

"Confidence after what we've accomplished so far this season carried over to tonight," said Bayless. "I think we had a sense of urgency but also a calmness like we knew we could do it. I'm just really proud of us for sticking together and finishing on top."

TU's offense was led by senior setter Avery Kalsu, who put up 50 assists at 12.5 assists per set in setting up five different attackers for success. Defensively she dug out 20 Tiger attacks to earn her 13^th double-double on the year.

Graduate outside hitter Kayley Casssaday landed 28 kills at a rate of seven kills per set to go with a .239 hitting percentage. On the defensive side, she added three block assists and 15 digs, good for her 12^th double-double of the season.

Junior middle blocker Tytiana Johnson contributed 10 kills and was one of three blockers to record four block assists. The others were Kalsu and sophomore Arianna Mongare.

Junior libero Marta Pecalli tied Kalsu for a team-high 20 digs while sophomore defensive specialist/setter Brayden Hipp recorded 16 digs.

Tulsa's final two home matches are next weekend against Tulane (6-21, 2-13 AAC). Senior Day will be Friday, Nov. 17, at 6:30 p.m., and the final home action of the 2023 season will start at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19.

Game Notes
» Avery Kalsu (50 assists/20 digs) and Kayley Cassaday (28 kills/15 digs) recorded their 13^th and 12^th double-doubles of the year, respectively.
» Arianna Mongare had a career-high five service aces.
» Tytiana Johnson (Lamar) knocked away 10 kills, her highest kill count in a TU jersey.
» Four Hurricane had double-digits in digs (Marta Pecalli (20), Avery Kalsu (20), Brayden Hipp (16) and Kayley Cassaday (15)).
» Three TU players landed double-digit kills (Kayley Cassaday (28), Beth Bayless (13), Tytiana Johnson (10)).
» As a team, Tulsa set season-highs in kills (63), attacks (180), assists (61) and digs (83) in a four-set match.
» Tulsa had nine service aces while holding Memphis to two.
» Set three had 19 ties and 10 lead changes … neither team led by more than two points.

How It Happened

SET 1 | Tulsa found itself in an early deficit at 9-5 to start the first set. The Hurricane fought back to tie up the match at 13-13. TU broke the deadlock at 16-16 with a 5-0 scoring run and rode the momentum from there to a 25-21 set one finish. Kayley Cassaday had eight digs and Avery Kalsu put up 12 assists.

SET 2 | Memphis scored the first three points of the set and was looking to play spoiler in set two. Tulsa had other plans as the Hurricane closed the gap at ten points all. From there, TU used a 14-2 run to jump to a 24-12 lead before closing out the set 25-13 to go up 2-0 on the Tigers. Tulsa rejected four Memphis attacks with blocks while Kayley Cassaday put up a whopping 11 kills in the stanza.

SET 3 | Set three featured 19 tie scores and 10 lead changes. In the most competitive set of the night, neither team led by more than two points. Tied at 23-23, Memphis benefitted from back-to-back Tulsa attack errors to take the set 25-23. Marta Pecalli had seven digs in the set loss.

SET 4 | The Hurricane jumped to a 10-4 lead to open the fourth set. The Tigers would erase the deficit and take control of the set midway through the stanza. Memphis was leading 19-17 before TU came back to grab the advantage at 20-19 and never trailed again on the way to a 25-20 fourth-set finish to complete the 3-1 victory.

Tulsa               25        25        23        25
Memphis        21        13        25        20