Kalsu and Cassaday Rally Tulsa to Reverse Sweep Over Sam Houston

Saturday, September 16

Nacogdoches, Texas

11:00 a.m.

Tulsa

7-4,0-0AAC

Sam Houston

6-7,0-0CUSA

Sam Houston

Tulsa

Kalsu and Cassaday Rally Tulsa to Reverse Sweep Over Sam Houston

9/16/2023 2:27:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS (PDF)

Nacogdoches, Texas — The Tulsa volleyball team pulled out a 3-2 (22-25, 25-27, 25-17, 27-25, 15-13) come-from-behind victory over the Sam Houston Bearkats Saturday to conclude the SFA Tournament #2. The Golden Hurricane jumps to 7-4 on the season, while the Bearkats drop to 6-7.

"After a long day yesterday, playing back-to-back matches, our team showed some wonderful resilience in the match today," said Head Coach Lauren Ramatowski. "We made some adjustments to our defense and started playing a little longer against a team who defensively really challenged us. Big shoutout to Avery Kalsu who showed some wonderful maturity in her position as a setter, distributing the ball nicely, which allowed our offense to thrive against a very good defensive team. Kayley Cassaday with a career-high 35 kills and Avery Kalsu with a career-high 32 digs and 55 assists. This team is resilient and passionate. I'm really proud of them."

Avery Kalsu, who was named to the SFA Tournament #2 All-Tournament Team, was all over the court for Tulsa. The senior setter from Dripping Springs, Texas, put up a whopping career-best 55 assists to go with a career-high and team-leading 32 digs. She now has six double-doubles under her belt this year.

Graduate outside hitter Kayley Cassaday had another monster game for the Hurricane. She recorded 35 kills—the fourth-most in a match all-time for TU—and added a career-high 19 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Cassaday joins Kalsu on the all-tournament team.

Right behind Kalsu in digs was junior libero Marta Pecalli, who had 31 digs on the day at 6.2 digs per set. Aiding her in the defensive effort was sophomore setter Brayden Hipp, who had 21 digs, and sophomore outside hitter Lauren Eitler, who had 18.

TU's front row overpowered Sam Houston's attack, putting up a season-best 21 total blocks. Leading the way was sophomore middle blocker Arianna Mongare, who had three block solos and seven block assists. Sophomore middle blocker Camryn Lingenbrink amassed 10 block assists, while Kalsu had five block assists, and Cassaday and Beth Bayless each had four.

Tulsa begins conference action Wednesday, Sept. 20, in Philadelphia, where the Hurricane will take on Temple (8-2) at 5 p.m.

Game Notes
» Kayley's Cassaday's 35 kills marks the fourth highest in a match in Tulsa history.
» Avery Kalsu led the court with 55 assists and 32 digs.
» Five Hurricane had double-digit digs and three had more than 20 on the day (Avery Kalsu (32), Marta Pecalli (31), Brayden Hipp (21), Kayley Cassaday (19) and Lauren Eitler (18)).
» Kayley Cassaday and Avery Kalsu were named to the SFA Tournament #2 All-Tournament Team.
» Beth Bayless had a career-high eight block assists.
» Brayden Hipp had a career-high 21 digs.
» Tulsa won the blocking battle 21-13.
» As a team, Tulsa had season-highs in kills (69), attacks (228), assists (65), digs (132), blocks (21)

How It Happened

SET 1 | Tulsa took an early 5-1 lead in the first set but could not maintain control as Sam Houston quickly closed the gap. Neither team led by more than two points until the Bearkats gained the advantage at 21-20 and held the lead from there to a 25-22 finish to go up 1-0 on the Hurricane.

SET 2 | Set two started neck and neck until Sam Houston built a 14-10 lead over TU. The Hurricane closed the gap and maintained a two-point lead for most of the stanza. Tied at 25 points apiece, the Bearkats knocked down back-to-back kills to seal the set away at 27-25 to increase their lead to 2-0. Tulsa had eight blocks in the set.

SET 3 | The Hurricane scored the first point and never gave up the advantage, leading by as many as eight points when it closed out the set 25-17 to cut into Sam Houston's lead. Tulsa had a match-best 18 kills to go with a .368 hitting percentage to make it a 2-1 game.

SET 4 | Tulsa erased four-point deficits at 4-0, 8-4 and 17-13 to stay alive in the fourth set. From there, the Hurricane and the Bearkats battled to a second 25-25 tie in the match. A kill by Lauren Eitler followed by a Bearkats' attack error secured the 27-25 finish for Tulsa, tying up the match at 2-2.

SET 5 | Neither team led by more than three points in a competitive fifth set. Tulsa broke a 10-10 to take the lead and coasted to a 15-13 finish to seal the 3-2 reverse sweep over the Bearkats. Kayley Cassaday had five kills, while Avery Kalsu had five assists and five digs to push Tulsa to victory.

Tulsa                           22        25        25        27        15
Sam Houston             25        27        17        25        13

All Tournament Team
Kayley Cassaday
Avery Kalsu