Hurricane Prevails 3-2 in Back-and-Forth Battle at North Texas

Friday, September 29

Denton, Texas

6:00 p.m.

Tulsa

10-6,3-2AAC

North Texas

9-9,3-2AAC

Tulsa

North Texas

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Hurricane Prevails 3-2 in Back-and-Forth Battle at North Texas

9/29/2023 9:23:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS

DENTON, Texas — The Tulsa volleyball team completed the series sweep over North Texas Friday with a 3-2 (22-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-7, 15-11) come-from-behind victory in Denton. The Golden Hurricane improved to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Mean Green dropped to 9-9 overall and 3-2 in league action.

"I am so proud of this team," said Head Coach Lauren Ramatowski. "That was a tough environment and our girls stayed composed and present. We made some really nice defensive upgrades and were able to stay aggressive at the service line in the fourth and fifth set."

Graduate hitter Kayley Cassaday (25 kills) and sophomore hitter Beth Bayless (15) led the charge with 40 combined kills from the outsides. Bayless hit for .467 on the night as she only committed one attack error out of 30 total attempts, while Cassaday reached a .345 attack average.

Sophomore middle blocker Arianna Mongare chipped in nine kills with only one error in 16 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. She also had a team-leading four block assists.

Setting up the attackers for success was senior setter Avery Kalsu, who commanded the TU offense with 43 assists at an average of 8.6 assists per set. Kalsu assisted the defensive effort as well, recording 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.

The Tulsa defense kept the ball alive with 70 total digs on the night. Sophomore setter Brayden Hipp led the way with 13 digs, while Cassaday (12 digs), sophomore outside Lauren Eitler (11 digs) and junior libero Marta Pecalli (11 digs) each had double-digit digs to finish the match.

Tulsa will remain on the road next week as the Hurricane heads southeast to take on Florida Atlantic (9-8, 1-3 AAC) on Friday, Oct. 6, at 5 p.m. Then, TU will face UAB (2-14, 0-4 AAC) on Sunday, Oct. 8, at 1 p.m.

Game Notes
» Kayley Cassaday (25 kills/12 digs) and Avery Kalsu (43 assists/11 digs) recorded double-doubles on the night.
» Beth Bayless had a career-high 15 kills.
» Lauren Eitler registered a career-high five service aces.
» Camryn Lingenbrink tied her career high in solo blocks (2) and led Tulsa with four total blocks.
» Tulsa hit for .650 while holding UNT to -.038 in the Hurricane's 25-7 fourth-set win.
» The Hurricane won the blocking battle 10-8
» As a team, Tulsa had 11 service aces. In total, the Hurricane had 24 aces throughout the series.

How It Happened

SET 1 | Tulsa slipped early as TU and North Texas fought through six tie scores and three lead changes before the Mean Green took control at 9-8. From there UNT held the lead and led by as many as five points at 18-13 before closing out the first set 25-22. Tulsa was held to a .054 hitting percentage during the set.

SET 2 | Down 1-0, the Hurricane responded with a 25-16 performance in the second set to tie up the match at 1-1. Tulsa grabbed the advantage at 11-10 and cruised from there to the set win. TU took advantage of a 7-1 run, fueled in part by three Beth Bayless kills, to close out the stanza. Tulsa had only one attack error and recorded 20 digs to go with three blocks.

SET 3 | North Texas would swing the match back in its favor with a 25-20 showing in set three to go up 2-1 on the Hurricane. The Mean Green took control at 2-1 and never looked back. Despite falling short in the set, Tulsa hit for .250 as Kayley Cassaday led the way with five kills.

SET 4 | The unphased Hurricane put on a clinic in the fourth set, dominating North Texas 25-7 to tie the match back up at 2-2. Tulsa landed 13 kills in 20 attempts without a single attack error for a team hitting percentage of .650. In addition, the Hurricane served four aces and a solo block by Camryn Lingenbrink before closing out the set.

SET 5 | A thrilling set five featured eight tie scores and three lead changes before Tulsa pulled away 15-11 to complete the 3-2 victory and the series sweep over North Texas. 12 of Tulsa's 15 points came from kills, of which seven came from Kayley Cassaday, including the final score of the match.

Tulsa               22        25        20         25        15
North Texas    25        16        25         7          11