Efficient Hitting Leads Tulsa to 3-0 Sweep Over Temple

Wednesday, September 20

Philadelphia, Pa.

5:00 p.m.

Tulsa

8-4,1-0AAC

Temple

9-3,0-1AAC

Tulsa

Temple

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Efficient Hitting Leads Tulsa to 3-0 Sweep Over Temple

9/20/2023 7:27:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS (PDF)

Philadelphia, Pa. — A .382 hitting percentage from Tulsa's offense led the Golden Hurricane to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-20) sweep over the Temple Owls Wednesday in Philadelphia. The conference-opening win moves TU to 8-4 overall and 1-0 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Owls drop to 9-3 overall and 0-1 in league action.

"Distributing the ball and hitting efficiently have been goals of ours," said Head Coach Lauren Ramatowski. "We're trying to get more athletes involved in the attack, and I think Avery Kalsu did a wonderful job passing the ball tonight. What makes this team so great is their willingness to learn. They're committed to this program and they're buying into what we're trying to accomplish on the court."

Fueling Tulsa's offensive drive was graduate outside hitter Kayley Cassaday, who knocked away 18 kills in 37 attempts without a single attack error, finishing the night with a career-high .486 hitting percentage. Sophomore hitter Beth Bayless added 11 kills from the outside, and sophomore middle blocker Arianna Mongare slammed down 10 kills with only one error in 18 attacks to end the night at .500.

Senior setter Avery Kalsu coordinated the Hurricane attack with 37 assists on the night, averaging 12.33 assists per set.

Tulsa held Temple to a .222 attack percentage on the night with 55 team digs. Junior libero Marta Pecalli led the way with 15 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Lauren Eitler chipped in 10. Sophomore middle Camryn Lingenbrink led the Tulsa blockers with two block assists.

Tulsa returns home to the Donald W. Reynolds Center to face Rice (7-4) in a two-match series on Saturday (3 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.)

Game Notes
» Tulsa has won the last eight matchups against Temple … The Hurricane's series lead extends to 9-7.
» Kayley Cassaday registered 18 kills without a single error.
» Cassaday is now third on the all-time TU leaderboard in career kills (1,527) … She is on pace to pass Erica Bohannon (2013-16), who's second all-time with 1,741 kills.
» Avery Kalsu led the court with 37 assists, while Marta Pecalli had a floor-leading 15 digs.
» Arianna Mongare tied her career-high in kills (10).
» As a team, Tulsa recorded season-highs in hitting percentage (.382), kills in a three-set match (52) and assists in a three-set match (51).

How It Happened

SET 1 | Tulsa and Temple fought through five tie scores early in the first set. The Hurricane broke the tie at 8-8 and held the lead from there, leading by as many as eight points before closing out the set 25-19 to go up 1-0. Tulsa hit for .324 in the set and accumulated 18 digs.

SET 2 | The Hurricane traded points with the Owls through the first 12 rallies of set two. TU broke the tie at 6-6 and never gave up the lead, using 8-0 and 5-0 scoring runs to run away with the second set. The Hurricane hit for .405 when it closed the set 25-16 to increase their lead to 2-0 in the match.

SET 3 | TU scored the first point of the set and took a 6-2 lead to open the third set. Temple closed the gap and took its first substantial lead of the match at 9-8. From there, neither team led by more than two points until the Hurricane grabbed the advantage at 16-15 and never trailed again, closing out the third set 25-20 to complete the three-set sweep.

Tulsa               25        25        25
Temple            19        16        20