Volleyball Suffers 3-1 Setback Against Stephen F. Austin

Friday, September 15

Nacogdoches, Texas

4:00 p.m.

Tulsa

6-4,0-0AAC

Stephen F. Austin

10-2,0-0WAC

Tulsa

SFA

Volleyball Suffers 3-1 Setback Against Stephen F. Austin

9/15/2023 6:37:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS (PDF)

Nacogdoches, Texas — After putting away a thrilling 3-2 victory over Ole Miss Friday afternoon at the SFA Tournament #2, the Tulsa Volleyball team fell short to the hosting Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks in a 3-1 (24-26, 11-25, 25-23, 22-25) decision Friday evening. Tulsa falls to 6-4, while SFA moves to 10-2

After recording a TU-record 99 attacks in the five-setter against Ole Miss, graduate outside hitter Kayley Cassaday picked up where she left off, putting up 20 kills in 65 attacks to lead the Tulsa offense. Sophomore outside hitter Beth Bayless was not far behind with 15 kills.

Senior setter Avery Kalsu coordinated the Tulsa attack with 37 assists, while junior libero Marta Pecalli added 11. Defensively, Kalsu led the Hurricane with 20 digs for her fifth double-double of the season, and Pecalli picked up 18 digs for her first double-double in 2023.

Sophomore Arianna Mongare led Tulsa's middle blockers with a block solo and two block assists. Regan Pendleton and Tytiana Johnson each had three block assists to close out the night.

Tulsa will wrap up the tournament against Sam Houston (6-5) tomorrow at 11 a.m.

Game Notes
» Kayley Cassaday recorded her fourth straight 20+ kills match with 20 against the Lumberjacks.
» Avery Kalsu (37 assists/20 digs) and Marta Pecalli (18 digs/11 assists) each recorded a double-double.
» The first set featured 14 tie scores and nine lead changes.
» Beth Bayless had a career-high 15 kills in the match.
» Tytian Johnson and Regan Pendleton each led Tulsa with three block assists.
» Tulsa had season-highs in assists (54), digs (72) and attacks (167) in a four-set match.

How It Happened

SET 1 | The first set was neck and neck as neither team led by more than two points. It was SFA who pulled away in the end with a 26-24 final set score to go up 1-0 on Tulsa. The Hurricane outblocked the Lumberjacks 5-3 but SFA landed four more kills than TU before closing out the set.

SET 2 | SFA carried the momentum into set two, putting away the set 25-11 to go up 2-0 on the Hurricane. The Lumberjacks held Tulsa to nine kills and forced seven attack errors for a match-low .053 hitting percentage.

SET 3 | Tulsa bounced back in the third set with a 25-23 performance. The Hurricane kept the ball alive with 20 digs and hit for .256 throughout the match. SFA struggled to hit in the stanza, recording 12 kills and a match-low .175 attack average.

SET 4 | The Hurricane could not pull off the comeback as the Lumberjacks took the fourth set 25-22 to seal the match away at 3-1. Despite the strongest statistical set of the night for Tulsa, it was not enough to overcome SFA's efficient hitting and blocking.

Tulsa   24        11        25        22
Stephen F. Austin       26        25        23        25