Tulsa Volleyball Set for the American Conference Championship

Sunday, November 23

Tampa, Fla.

12:00 p.m.

Tulsa

(1) Rice

Photo by: Anais Moua

Tulsa Volleyball Set for the American Conference Championship

11/20/2025 3:00:00 PM | Volleyball

Bracket (PDF)Championship Central

MATCH 31:
-- American Final --
No. 3 Tulsa (24-6, 12-4 American) vs. No. 1 Rice (21-8, 15-1 American)
12:00 p.m. CT - Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025
The Corral (1,000) • Tampa, Fla.

LIVE STATS: Tulsa StatBroadcast
TV: ESPN+
GAME NOTES: Tulsa

THE COACHES:
Tulsa: Lauren Ramatowski (Kansas State, 2010), 3^rd year
Career Record: 59-32
School Record: Same

Rice: Genny Volpe (Texas A&M, 1995), 22nd year
Career Record: 434-225
School Record: Same

Coming Up: The American Conference Championship

It's time for Tulsa volleyball to put it all together as only three matches stand in the way of the Golden Hurricane and an American Conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championship.
The 12-4 Golden Hurricane earned the No. 3 seed in the American Conference Championship and will face No. 6 Florida Atlantic (10-6) first on Friday, November 21, at 6:30 p.m. Central at The Corral on South Florida's campus in Tampa.
The winner between Tulsa and FAU will take on the winner of No. 2 South Florida-No. 7 Charlotte in the semifinal on Saturday, November 22, at 2 p.m. Central. Sunday's final is slated for a noon start.
All matches will stream on ESPN+

Tulsa in Conference Championships

Tulsa seeks its first American title and first conference title since 2012.
This will be just the third American tournament in conference history. Previously, the regular-season champion would be the sole bid for the NCAA Tournament.
TU is 0-2 in American tournaments, falling 3-1 to UCF in the 2019 quarterfinal and losing 3-1 last year to eventual 2024 champion Wichita State.
The Golden Hurricane have participated in 11 conference tournaments between the WAC, C-USA and American Conference, going 11-9.
Tulsa went 3-0 to win both the 2007 and 2012 C-USA Tournaments.

Facing the FAU Owls

This will be just the fifth meeting between Tulsa and Florida Atlantic with the series tied at 2-2.
The Owls won the previous matchup, 3-0, in Boca Raton earlier this season.
FAU is 19-10 overall and 10-7 in league action to finish in sixth place.
Florida Atlantic is second in the league behind Tulsa for kills per set (13.81).

Hanson and Hipp Highlight Player of the Year Awards

The American Conference volleyball coaches have selected Tulsa middle blocker Jill Hanson has the league's Freshman of the Year, while senior Brayden Hipp was tabbed Setter of the Year.
Both players were also tabbed First Team All-Conference.
In addition, Hanson and Maegan Mills were voted to the All-Freshman, for which Hanson was a unanimous choice.
Hanson led all freshman in the nation and the entire American Conference in hitting percentage this year at .404, while finishing third overall in blocking at 1.21 rejections per set.
She also had eight conference matches hitting over .500 and was the only freshman in the league to have a 10-block performance.
Hipp was third in the American (conference play only) in assists (10.23/set) while leading all setters with 3.47 digs pet - the ninth best overall mark when adding liberos and defensive specialists to the mix.
Hipp also led the league with five Setter of the Week Awards and finished with 15 double-doubles.
Finally, Mills averaged 2.64 points and 2.10 kills per set this season. She had break out showings in the series sweep over Wichita State, earning a team season-high 20 kills on the Shockers' home court. She was a mainstay on the Tulsa offensive ever since.
Her 4.29 kills per set through the wins over the Shockers earned her a Freshman of the Week award on October 6.

Best Finish in Over a Decade

The Golden Hurricane finished the regular season with a 22-6 overall record and a 12-4 mark in American Conference play -- their best records since 2014 (22-9, 14-6 American).
TU also finishes the season with a 10-1 home record, their best showing since 2018 (11-2).
20 wins this season marks the first time Tulsa's hit the 20-win threshold since 2014.
It's the 17th time the Golden Hurricane have had 20 or more wins in a single season.
Tulsa's 17-3 record after 20 matches was TU's best since 2010, when the Hurricane started 20-2 and finished 31-3 and 20-0 in conference play with a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Before the 5-set loss to Rice earlier this year, TU's 11-match winning streak was tied for the 5th longest in the NCAA.
Tulsa went 10-1 in the month of September, 7-2 in October, 4-1 in November, won 22 of their last 26 matches this season, and have emerged victorious in 25 of their last 33 outings dating back to the final five matches of last season.
Best RPI in Team History
The first NCAA Volleyball RPI came out on October 6, and the Golden Hurricane were ranked 43rd out of 348 teams in the country - the best RPI TU has ever received in program history.
Tulsa is currently #54 entering this weekend's action, the third-highest RPI in the American.
In the American, Rice is #22 and South Florida is #43. Rice edged Tulsa 3-2 in Houston in September and Tulsa fell in three sets at South Florida in October.
The Golden Hurricane are 5-2 against RPI 51-100 teams, 5-5 against top 100 teams, 17-1 against 101+ teams, and 14-0 against sub-150 squads.
Tulsa's first-round opponent Florida Atlantic is #75 in the RPI rankings.

National and Conference Stat Rankings

After 12 weeks of volleyball, here's where Tulsa stacks up on the individual and team level in the American and the national stat rankings.
Senior setter Brayden Hipp is atop the league with 10.05 assists per set and owns the most total assists with 985. Her assists per set mark is 40th in the country.
Hipp's 60-assist performance in the victory at Memphis last week is tied for the 21st-most assists in a 5-set match nationwide.
Her 44-assist showing at UAB is the 25th-most assists by a single player in a 3-set match in the country.
Hipp also has the most Conference Setter of the Week awards with five.
True freshman middle Jill Hanson is first in the American with a .404 hitting percentage. She peaked with .889 (8-0-9) against Cleveland State and has hit over .500 in 12 matches this season.
In hitting percentage, Hanson is the #1 freshman in the nation, 23rd overall.
Hanson is currently No. 5 on the league's blocking list with 1.08 blocks per set.
Junior libero Lauren Patterson is holding steady at eighth in the American for digs (357) and digs per set (3.64).
As a team, Tulsa leads the American Conference in assists per set (13.19), hitting percentage (.265), kills per set (14.13) and winning percentage (.786)
TU is 11th in the nation for assists per set, 12th in kills per set, 25th in hitting percentage and 27th in digs per set (16.24)

Tulsa Thriving on Balanced Attack

Tulsa has six players currently averaging between 2-3 kills per set. Any one of them can lead the team in kills for any given match.
Leading is senior outside Olivia Vance with 2.79 per set followed by senior outside Beth Bayless at 2.58.
Senior outside Lauren Eitler is third at 2.52 per set with senior middle Kat Cooper managing 2.47 kills per set.
Freshman middle Jill Hanson Freshman averages 2.27 kills, while outside hitter Maegan Mills currently has 2.10 kills per set.
Much of this is due to brilliant passing by senior setter Brayden Hipp, who's been distributing the ball evenly through the entire season.

Everyone's Digging It

The defense has also been balanced for the Golden Hurricane.
Four players average two or more digs per set, with junior libero Lauren Patterson ranking eighth in the conference with 3.64 digs per set.
Senior setter Brayden Hipp has 2.93 digs to lead all American Conference setters, while senior outside Lauren Eitler averages 2.72 and sophomore setter Brittany Bacorn currently records 2.61 digs.

Ramatowski Reaches 50 Wins Against UAB

Third-year Head Coach Lauren Ramatowski surpassed 50 career wins in her 79th match in the home sweep over UAB on Oct. 10.
She is the sixth Tulsa head coach to accomplish that feat and the fifth-fastest to reach that mark.
She's currently 58-32 (.628) entering this weekend's action.
Ramatowski also surpassed 18 wins this season. She's hit that mark in all three seasons leading the Golden Hurricane.

Hipp Reaches 2,000 Assists and 1,000 Digs During Florida Trip

Senior setter Brayden Hipp has played excellent volleyball in all four seasons with the Golden Hurricane, surpassing the 2,000-assist mark and the 1,000-dig tally in the South Florida and Florida Atlantic matches just two weeks ago.
The Fort Myers, Fla., native has career averages of 5.15 assists and 2.49 digs with 35 total double-doubles.
She also has 46 double-figure dig matches, 54 contests with 20+ assists, 26 matches with 30+ assists, eight matches with 40+ assists, two contests with over 50 and one 60-assist performance.

Visit www.TulsaHurricane.com for the latest news and information on the volleyball program. Fans can also follow the team on X, Facebook and Instagram.