Tulsa’s Historic Season Comes to a Close in the NCAA Championship First Round

Thursday, December 4

Lawrence, Kan.

4:00 p.m.

Tulsa

25-7,12-4American

#14 Miami

27-5,16-4ACC

Tulsa

Miami (FL)

Photo by: Ryan Weaver

Tulsa’s Historic Season Comes to a Close in the NCAA Championship First Round

12/4/2025 7:54:00 PM | Volleyball

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LAWRENCE, Kan. — The historic 2025 campaign and 50^th season of Tulsa Golden Hurricane volleyball comes to a close after TU fell 3-1 (22-25, 25-13, 22-25, 20-25 ) to the 14^th-ranked Miami Hurricanes in the first round of the NCAA Championship, despite putting up a resilient performance against the tournament's No. 5 seed.

Tulsa ends the season with a 25-7 overall record – the best finish to a season since 2012 (26-10).

"I'm so proud of our team," said Head Coach Lauren Ramatowski, who ends her third season with Tulsa with a 61-33 career record. "I thought we battled on a big stage. And this is what we've talked about wanting all year, is to be here. I just told them in the locker room that we belong here. I hope everyone sees that, because I think there's a lot of people that maybe didn't see that about Tulsa, and it's important to us that people understand that this program is going to be a tournament program, and we're going to have players like Brayden [Hipp] and Kat [Cooper] who are competitors who will continue to take us to that next level. unfortunately, I think we missed an opportunity, and I told them that in the locker room, like I think we had that we scouted Miami right, and that third set got away from us. I felt like we had them right where we needed them, and we just couldn't get out of one rotation, and it hit our confidence. I think definitely we want to remember that we missed an opportunity, but at the same time, I think just really proud of our girls for the way they competed."

"This experience was incredible," said senior middle blocker Kat Cooper, who earned nine kills on a .409 hitting mark and two solo blocks. "I haven't seen this kind of stage before, and there's no other group that I would want to do this with. So being able to have this team behind us and play together like you feel it every single day, and the whole season led up to this moment. Us coming here and letting it all out on the floor there, I feel like everybody was fighting, and even though it didn't go our way, there wasn't one person that I looked that didn't give it their all. Everybody was giving it their all, and we fought really hard. And I'm obviously sad because it's the end of my career, but I wouldn't want to do this with anybody else. So it's very special."

"I just think the buy-in from every single person on this team, the coaches, the staff, our support staff, everyone was just incredible," said senior setter Brayden Hipp, who coordinated Tulsa's offense with 39 assists. "I don't think that you can find that anywhere else in the country. And I'm just so grateful for everyone."

The match began with Miami establishing an early lead, capitalizing on a kill by Dalia Wilson and maintaining momentum with a kill by Flormarie Heredia Colon, assisted by Ariana Rodriguez. Tulsa responded with a kill from Jill Hanson, narrowing the gap. Despite a service error by Miami, Heredia Colon continued her offensive surge, contributing multiple kills to build a 9-5 advantage. Tulsa's Kat Cooper and Beth Bayless fought back, each registering kills to close the score to 17-16. In the closing stages, Miami kept its edge with Heredia Colon's decisive kills, sealing the set 25-22.

Tulsa secured a decisive victory in the second set with a 25-13 win over the Hurricanes. The action began with Hanson scoring the first point on a kill set up by Brayden Hipp. Hipp played a pivotal role, providing multiple assists, including a service ace early on. Bayless contributed with two significant kills, the latter closing the set. Defensive efforts were highlighted by Olivia Vance and Hanson, who combined for a block against Heredia Colon. The set ended with a kill by Bayless, sealing the set for the Golden Hurricane.

The third set was marked by a strong performance from Heredia Colon, who contributed a series of four consecutive kills for Miami, bringing the score from 14-14 to 17-14 at a critical juncture. Tulsa managed to claw back, highlighted by Hanson's kill, narrowing the gap to 21-23. However, Miami capitalized on Tulsa's errors, as Lauren Eitler and Hanson's attack errors brought Miami to the brink of victory. Wilson and Rodriguez's combined block on Hanson's attack sealed the set for Miami at 25-22.

Miami capitalized on a series of early Tulsa errors to establish a 2-0 lead in the fourth set. Hanson responded for Tulsa with a kill, sparking a 5-0 run that included two attack errors by Heredia Colon and a block by Vance and Hanson. Despite Tulsa's efforts, Miami regained momentum with a 5-2 run, highlighted by a service ace from Heredia Colon, leading 19-13. Tulsa managed to narrow the gap to 19-16 after a service ace by Maegan Mills. However, Miami surged ahead again, with Heredia Colon securing a critical kill to push the score to 24-19. Wilson closed the set with a decisive kill, handing Miami a 25-20 victory.

Tulsa's Top Performers
Jill Hanson
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- 13 kills
- six block assists
- 16.0 points

Kat Cooper
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- nine kills with a .409 hitting percentage
- two solo blocks
- 11.0 points

Brayden Hipp
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- 39 assists
- five digs
- one service ace

Olivia Vance
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- eight kills
- four block assists
- 10.0 points

Miami's Top Performers
Flormarie Heredia Colon
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- 33 kills
- 38.5 points
- 3 service aces

Ariana Rodriguez
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- 43 assists
- 10 digs
- 3 total blocks

Dalia Wilson
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- 5 total blocks
- 8.5 points
- 4 digs

Naylani Feliciano
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- 21 digs
- 5 assists

Game Notes:
- Tulsa fell 3-1 to 5-seed and 14th-ranked Miami in the Golden Hurricane's fifth appearance in the NCAA Championship and seventh all-time match in The Big Dance.
- TU moves to 2-5 in the NCAA Championship.
- The series between Tulsa and Miami moves to 2-1 in favor of the opponent.
- Jill Hanson led the offense with 13 kills on .360 hitting and paved the way on defense with six blocks.
- Brayden Hipp averaged 9.75 assists en route to 39 total assists on the night.
- Lauren Patterson and Brittany Bacorn each boosted the defense with 12 digs apiece.
- Kat Cooper (9 kills) and Beth Bayless (8 kills) each had an errorless night, while Olivia Vance also finished with 8 kills.
- Lauren Eitler finished with six digs and three kills to conclude the season.
- Tulsa's front line won the blocking battle 8-7.
- TU also hit for .565 in the second set and never allowed a lead change in the stanza.

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.