Tulsa Set to Open NCAA Championship Against Miami

Thursday, December 4

Lawrence, Kan.

4:00 p.m.

Tulsa

#14 Miami

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Photo by: Alina Lebedeva

Tulsa Set to Open NCAA Championship Against Miami

12/3/2025 3:35:00 PM | Volleyball

MATCH 32:
NCAA Championship 1^st Round
Tulsa vs. (5) #14 Miami
4:00 p.m. CT - Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025
Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena (2,265) • Lawrence, Kan.

MATCH 33:
NCAA Championship 2^nd Round
Tulsa vs. TBD
6:00 p.m. CT - Friday, Dec. 5, 2025
Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena (2,265) • Lawrence, Kan.

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

THE COACHES:
Tulsa: Lauren Ramatowski (Kansas State, 2010), 3^rd year
Career Record: 61-32
School Record: Same

Miami: Jose 'Keno' Gandara (UC Santa Barbara, 1990), 13^th year
Career Record: 243-133
School Record: Same

Coming Up: The NCAA Championship

Winners of the 2025 American title, The University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane will face No. 5 seed and 14th-ranked Miami (26-5) on Thursday, December 4, at 4 p.m. Central in Lawrence, Kan., for the first round of the NCAA Championship.
It'll be a battle of tropical storms as the 25-6 Golden Hurricane will compete in The Big Dance for the fifth time in program history, making their first appearance since 2012.
The Kansas Jayhawks will host TU, Miami and High Point in a four-team pod for first and second-round action in the upper left quadrant of tournament bracket. The winner of the pod will likely face the undefeated and top-seeding Nebraska Cornhuskers (30-0).

Tulsa in The Big Dance

Thursday marks Tulsa's fifth all-time appearance in the NCAA Championship and seventh-ever match in The Big Dance.
The Golden Hurricane are 2-4 in NCAA Tournament matches, with wins over #15 LSU in 2010 and Oklahoma in 2011.
The 2010 win over LSU was Tulsa's first-ever win over a nationally ranked opponent. After TU's win over #22 Arkansas last year, Thursday could be Tulsa's third ranked win should they get the upset over Miami.
This will also be Tulsa's first time playing in the NCAA Championship in Lawrence, Kan.

Tulsa's NCAA Tournament History (2-4)
2007
(0-1, First Round, Manhattan, Kan.)
Kansas State 3, Tulsa 0

2010
(1-1, Second Round, Norman, Okla.)
Tulsa 3, No. 15 LSU 0
at Oklahoma 3, Tulsa 2

2011
(1-1, Second Round, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Tulsa 3, Oklahoma 1
at No. 1 USC 3, Tulsa 0

2012
(0-1, First Round, Gainesville, Fla.)
Florida 3, Tulsa 0

Facing the Miami Hurricanes

Tulsa and Miami have faced off twice before with the Hurricanes winning 3-0 in a home match in 2001 and the Golden Hurricane earning a 3-0 sweep in the 2013 Nike Invitational in Norman, Okla., making the all-time series even at 1-1.
With no ACC tournament, Miami finished the regular season at 26-5 overall and 16-4 in ACC play, good for fourth place.
Outside hitter Flormarie Heredia Colon and redshirt sophomore setter Ariana Rodriguez earned All-ACC First Team honors.
Colon leads the nation in points per set (7.09), kills per set (6.25), while Rodriguez leads the ACC with 0.63 aces per set and averages 9.84 assists.

Tulsa's 2025 Triumphs

After an offseason where she brought in 10 newcomers and just 4 returners from last year, Head Coach Lauren Ramatowski led Tulsa to their first 25+ win season since 2012 and first 12+ conference win showing since 2014.
Tulsa won the 2025 American Championship - Tulsa's first American title, first conference title since 2012, and seventh overall conference crown.
Beat RPI 23 Rice and RPI 40 South Florida en route to the 2025 American title.
Earned 15 three-set sweeps in 31 matches this season.
Brayden Hipp was named American Setter of the Year, Jill Hanson was American Freshman of the Year, Hipp and Hanson earned First Team All-Conference honors, and Hanson and Maegan Mills were selected to All-Freshman Team, of which Hanson was a unanimous choice.
Throughout the season, TU players earned 5 conference Setter of the Week awards, three Freshmen of the Week and one Defensive Player of the Week
Tulsa an 11-match win streak at one point this season, and is currently on a 7-match win streak entering the NCAA Championship.
The Golden Hurricane swept the series against Wichita State, earning two wins against the Shockers in the same season for the first time since 1980. Also got Tulsa's first win at Wichita since 1980.
Tulsa also took down SEC programs Oklahoma and Arkansas on the Razorbacks' home court in Fayetteville.

Best Regular Season 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 finished the season with a 10-1 home record, their best showing since 2018 (11-2).
25 overall wins this season makes the first time Tulsa's hit that mark since 2012
It's the 17th time the Golden Hurricane have had 20 or more wins in a single season and the seventh time hitting 25 wins.
Tulsa's 17-3 record after 20 matches was TU's best start 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 in September, 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, 7-1 in November, won 25 of their last 29 matches this season, and have emerged victorious in 28 of their last 36 outings dating back to the final five matches of last season.

Best RPI in Team History

Tulsa's current No. 36 ranking in the latest RPI poll is the best in program 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 for what was then the best RPI in team history.
The Golden Hurricane are 7-0 in their last seven matches, 1-2 against RPI top 25 teams, 2-1 against RPI 26-50 programs, 5-3 against RPI 51-100 squads,17-0 against 101+ RPI schools, 8-6 against top 100 teams and 14-0 against sub-150 programs.
Tulsa's first-round opponent Miami is No. 19 in RPI and 14th in the AVCA National Top 25 poll.

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 Team, 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.

National and Conference Stat Rankings

Here's where Tulsa stacks up on the individual and team level in the American and the national stat rankings as of November 30.
Senior setter Brayden Hipp is atop the league with 10.20 assists per set and owns the most total assists with 1,122. Her assists per set mark is 35th in the country.
Hipp's 60-assist performance in the victory at Memphis last week is tied for the 29th-most assists in a 5-set match nationwide.
Her 44-assist showing at UAB is the 28th-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 .411 hitting percentage. She peaked with .889 (8-0-9) against Cleveland State and has hit over .500 in 14 matches this season.
In hitting percentage, Hanson is the #1 freshman in the nation, 21st overall.
Hanson is currently No. 7 on the league's blocking list with 1.06 blocks per set.
Junior libero Lauren Patterson is holding steady at sixth in the American for digs (397) and digs per set (3.61).
As a team, Tulsa leads the American Conference in assists per set (13.29), hitting percentage (.266), kills per set (14.24) and winning percentage (.806)
TU is 11th in the nation for assists per set and kills per set, 27th in hitting percentage and 24th in digs per set (16.43)

Tulsa Thriving on Balanced Attack

Tulsa has five 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 2.91 per set followed by senior outside Beth Bayless at 2.57.
Senior outside Lauren Eitler is third at 2.56 per set with senior middle Kat Cooper managing 2.45 kills per set.
Freshman middle Jill Hanson Freshman averages 2.28 kills
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 leading the way with 3.61 digs per set.
Senior setter Brayden Hipp puts up 3.07 digs to lead all American Conference setters, while senior outside Lauren Eitler averages 2.70 and sophomore setter Brittany Bacorn currently records 2.62 digs.

Ramatowski Reaches 50 Wins

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 61-32 (.656) 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.