Cassaday Leads Tulsa to 3-2 Victory Over SEC’s Ole Miss

Friday, September 15

Nacogdoches, Texas

11:00 a.m.

Tulsa

6-3,0-0AAC

Mississippi

5-4,0-0SEC

Tulsa

Ole Miss

Cassaday Leads Tulsa to 3-2 Victory Over SEC’s Ole Miss

9/15/2023 3:20:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS (PDF)

Nacogdoches, Texas — Graduate outside hitter Kayley Cassaday set a new TU record Friday to push the Tulsa volleyball team to a 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 15-25, 23-15, 15-12) win over the Ole Miss Rebels to open the SFA Tournament #2. Tulsa's fourth win in a row moves the Golden Hurricane to 6-3, while Ole Miss drops to 5-4.

Cassaday drove the offense Friday with a career-high 28 kills in a record-setting 99 total attacks. The record was previously set by Fabiola Nepomuceno (96) in 2007. Cassaday also added a career-high 18 digs to secure her third double-double on the year.

Assisting her throughout the match was senior setter Avery Kalsu, who put up a whopping 47 assists during the match. Kalsu contributed to the defensive effort with 12 digs to earn her fourth double-double of the season.

"This team is a wonderfully resilient group," said Head Coach Lauren Ramatowski. "It was such a great performance from everyone. We got some really nice touches from our defense, both from the front row and back row. We were able to block well against a fast offense."

Five Tulsa athletes recorded ten or more digs throughout the match. Leading the way was junior libero Marta Pecalli, who had 27 digs. Regan Pendleton (14) and Lauren Eitler (12) kept the ball alive with a combined 26 total digs.

The Hurricane had 18 block assists. Sophomore middle blocker Arianna Mongare led the court with five block assists with senior and sophomore middle blockers Regan Pendleton and Camryn Lingenbrink each rejecting four.

The turnaround time is short as Tulsa returns to action in the SFA Tournament at 4 p.m. against the hosting Lumberjacks (9-2).

Game Notes
» Kayley Cassaday broke a 16-year TU record with 99 total attacks in the match (Fabiola Nepomuceno had 96 attacks against Rice in 2007).
» Avery Kalsu earned her fourth double-double of the season with 47 assists and 12 digs.
» Kayley Cassaday secured her third double-double of the year with 28 kills and 18 digs.
» Five Hurricane had double-digit digs (Marta Pecalli (27), Kayley Cassaday (18), Regan Pendleton (14), Lauren Eitler (12) and Avery Kalsu (12).
» TU won the block battle 9-7. Overall, the Hurricane had 18 block assists compared to the Rebels' 10.
» As a team, Tulsa recorded season-highs in points (80), kills (63), attacks (211), assists (61) and digs (98).

How It Happened

SET 1 | Tulsa scored the first point and never gave up the lead in a 25-20 performance to go up 1-0 on Ole Miss. TU used a 12-5 run to open the first set. The Hurricane offense committed only two attack errors while landing 14 kills. Avery Kalsu had 11 assists in the set.

SET 2 | Set two saw seven tie scores and five lead changes. Tulsa trailed by as many as six points at 20-14 before coming back late to take the lead at 22-21. The Hurricane cruised from there to a 25-22 finish to lead Ole Miss 2-0.

SET 3 | Ole Miss scored the first point of the third set and never looked back, taking the stanza 25-15 to make it a 2-1 game. The Rebels held Tulsa to a .167 hitting percentage while hitting for .348 with 18 kills and only two errors in 46 total attacks.

Set 4 | The Rebels would keep the momentum in set four, earning a second match point with a 25-23 performance. Tulsa held the lead once before Ole Miss took over at 3-2 and maintained control from there. Despite battling through seven tie scores, it was not enough as the Rebels closed the set with 21 kills compared to Tulsa's 13.

Set 5 | Three lead changes and four ties highlighted a close fifth set. Down 12-11, Kayley Cassaday rallied the Hurricane with four straight kills to seal the set at 15-12, and the match, 3-2.

Tulsa               25        25        15        23        15
Ole Miss          20        22        25        25        12