Tulsa Volleyball Begins Season at NMSU Volleyball Jamboree

Friday, August 28

Las Cruces, N.M.

7:00 p.m.

University of Tulsa

New Mexico State

Photo by: Anais Moua

Tulsa Volleyball Begins Season at NMSU Volleyball Jamboree

8/27/2026 10:56:00 AM | Volleyball

MATCH 1
Tulsa (0-0) at New Mexico State (0-0)
7:00 p.m. CT - Friday, Aug. 28, 2026
Pan American Center (12,572) • Las Cruces, N.M.

MATCH 2
Tulsa (0-0) vs. UTEP (0-0)
4:00 p.m. CT - Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026
Pan American Center (12,572) • Las Cruces, N.M.

MATCH 3
Tulsa (0-0) vs. New Mexico (0-0)
1:00 p.m. CT - Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026
Pan American Center (12,572) • Las Cruces, N.M.

LIVE STATS: Tulsa StatBroadcast
TV (NMSU Match Only): ESPN+
GAME NOTES: Tulsa

THE COACHES:
Tulsa: Lauren Ramatowski (Kansas State, 2010), 4^th year
Career Record: 61-33
School Record: Same

New Mexico State: Mike Jordan (UPhoenix, 2001), 29^th year
Career Record: 598-268
School Record: Same

UTEP: Ben Wallis (New Mexico State, 2000), 8^th year
Career Record: 141-64
School Record: Same

New Mexico: Brian Hosfeld (Long Beach State, 1991), 1^st year
Career Record: 129-133 (9^th year overall)
School Record: 0-0

A New Season of Tulsa Volleyball is Underway

2026 marks the 51st season of Golden Hurricane volleyball at The University of Tulsa.
Since 1976, Tulsa played in 1,620 matches in the program's history, winning 797 in total.
227 student-athletes have donned the Royal Blue and Old Gold since the program's start.
TU volleyball players have earned 56 all-conference awards, 15 All-America honors and four Academic All-Americas while winning seven overall conference titles and qualifying for nine postseasons (5 NCAA, 4 NIVC).

Tulsa in Season-Opening Matches and Tournaments

Entering this weekend's action, Tulsa is 23-27 in season-opening matches and
5-5 in the last ten.
Fourth year head coach Lauren Ramatowski is 2-1 in season-openers, taking down Michigan State in her first career match in 2023, beating Campbell in 2024 and falling 3-1 to Wyoming to open last season.
The Golden Hurricane have been playing in non-conference tournaments since the beginning of the program. In tournaments that open the season for Tulsa, TU is 68-74.

Scouting the Hosting New Mexico State Aggies

Tulsa will start the 2026 season at the NMSU Volleyball Jamboree this weekend in Las Cruces, N.M., taking on the hosting Aggies first on Friday night.
This will be the third all-time meeting between Tulsa and New Mexico State.
NMSU won the first match in 1997 by a narrow 3-2 result in Las Cruces. Tulsa then evened the series at one win apiece when the Golden Hurricane swept the Aggies at home in the Tulsa Volleyball Invitational.
New Mexico State went 14-16 last season with a 7-9 showing in Conference USA.
The Aggies boast a large roster of 21 players, which includes eight newcomers.
NMSU returns their top scorer (Maggie Lightheart), libero (Makayla Martinez) and blocker (Kate Sinclair) from last year's roster, but will likely don a brand new full time setter on Friday after losing their top three assisters from last season.

Taking a Look at UTEP

An old Conference USA rivalry will reignite when Tulsa takes on UTEP on Saturday.
The two programs have matched up 56 times dating back to 1983 and regularly faced off in Conference USA action from 2005 through the end of the 2014 school year when Tulsa left for the American Conference.
UTEP holds a narrow lead in the series at 29-27.
The last matchup was in 2022 during the Oral Roberts Invite, where Tulsa swept the Miners 3-0.
UTEP went 25-5 last year with a 15-1 mark in conference play to earn the top seed in the C-USA tournament, falling in the quarterfinals to Missouri State. Despite the loss, the Miners earned a bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Miners lost their top scorer, libero and blocker from last season but returns starting setter Kalia Kohler, who averaged 6.39 assists per set in a dual-setter system.

Previewing the New Mexico Lobos

Sunday marks the sixth all-time meeting between Tulsa and New Mexico.
TU has a chance to get their first win over the Lobos, who've won the first five matchups spanning 1989 to 1997.
New Mexico went 13-16 last year, paired with a 5-13 record for 10th place in the Mountain West.
UNM brings back their top libero, scorer, assister and blocker from last year's squad.

Tulsa's Strength of Schedule

The Golden Hurricane have the fourth-toughest schedule in the American Conference entering the 2026 season with upcoming opponents having a combined .546 winning percentage in 2025.
TU's 2026 schedule features eight opponents who made the NCAA Tournament last season, including a rematch against Miami and matchups with Kansas, Arizona, Creighton, South Dakota State, UTEP, Rice and South Florida.
#13 Creighton and #15 Kansas were each given a national ranking ahead of the 2026 season.

Jill Hanson Named American Preseason Player of the Year

The Tulsa volleyball team has the American Conference on high alert entering the 2026 season.
Coaches in the league voted sophomore middle blocker Jill Hanson as the American Preseason Player of the Year.
Senior outside hitter Olivia Vance was also tabbed Preseason All-Conference.
In addition, the Golden Hurricane were voted to finish second in conference play. Rice was voted the unanimous favorite to win the league this year.
Hanson had one of the best freshman seasons in conference history last year, earning American Freshman of the Year, First Team All-Conference and Unanimous All-Freshman Team honors as well as a selection to the AVCA Central All-Region list.
She finished with a .408 hitting percentage–a TU single-season program record–and led the Golden Hurricane with 1.08 blocks per set to go with 3.02 points and 2.32 kills across all 32 matches played.
Vance was the Golden Hurricane's top hitter last year. After transferring to Tulsa ahead of last season from James Madison, she led the Golden Hurricane with 3.28 points and 2.87 kills per set through 30 matches played.
Vance flipped a switch in the American Championship, averaging four points and 3.75 kills through three matches, peaking with a career-high 20 kills in the title match against Rice to earn All-Tournament honors.

Bacorn's Ready to Hit the Floor

Junior setter Brittany Bacorn entered last season's rotations as the team's second setter while giving the defense a major boost whenever she touched the floor.
She averaged 1.18 assists and 2.63 digs in 114 sets across 32 matches played.
As the only junior on the squad and the only player with two or more years of experience as a Golden Hurricane, she's primed to be the go-to setter entering 2026.
She was also elected Tulsa's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) president for the 2026-26 school year.

Reliable Patterson Returns to the Court

Senior libero Lauren Patterson anchored the TU defense last year with 3.59 digs per frame as one of six players to see action in every single set.
Not only did she lead the Golden Hurricane in digs 13 times throughout the season, but she also handled serving well with 32 aces.
19 matches saw Patterson reach 10 or more digs, while four contests had her surpass over 20.

Returning Numbers for the Golden Hurricane

In the age of the NCAA transfer portal and NIL, Tulsa impressively retained 11 of 14 players from last year's American Conference-winning roster, five of whom were starters.
TU returns 63% of their kills and 60.9% of their digs from last season.
American Setter of the Year and AVCA All-Region selection Brayden Hipp as well as outside hitters Beth Bayless and Lauren Eitler graduated over the offseason.

Ramatowski Reaches 50 Wins in Three Seasons

Fourth-year Head Coach Lauren Ramatowski reached 50 career wins in her 79th match during 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.
Ramatowski has also earned 18 or more wins in each of her first three seasons with the Golden Hurricane, an accomplishment achieved by only two other coaches in program history (Ed Allen (2006-2010) and Steven McRoberts (2011-2013)).
She's currently 61-32 (.656) entering this weekend's action.

On the Roster

TU returns five of seven starters and 11 of 14 letterwinners from 2025.
Returning starters include sophomore middle Jill Hanson, fifth-year middle Kat Cooper, junior setter Brittany Bacorn, senior libero Lauren Patterson and senior outside Olivia Vance.
The Golden Hurricane added three transfer players to the roster.
The TU coaching staff hit the transfer portal this offseason and signed San Diego State senior middle blocker Campbell Hague (Cheney, Kan.), Loyola Marymount sophomore outside hitter Isabella Ocampo (Dallas, Texas), and Troy senior opposite hitter Emma Blaine (O'Fallon, Mo.).
Three true freshmen are ready to don the Blue and Gold for the first time, including setter Lexi Dahl (San Antonio, Texas), hitter Mike Freeman (Hackett, Ark.) and libero Rachel Megna (Edmond, Okla.)

Recapping Tulsa's 2025 Triumphs

After an offseason where she brought in 10 newcomers and returned four players from last year, Head Coach Lauren Ramatowski led Tulsa to their first 25-win season since 2012 and first 12-win conference showing since 2014.
Tulsa won the 2025 American Championship - Tulsa's first American title, first conference title since 2012, and seventh overall conference crown.
TU beat RPI 23 Rice and RPI 40 South Florida en route to the 2025 American title.
The Golden Hurricane recorded 15 three-set sweeps in 32 matches this season.
Brayden Hipp was named AVCA Central All-Region and the American Setter of the Year.
Jill Hanson was AVCA Central All-Region and the American Freshman of the Year.
Hipp and Hanson earned First Team All-Conference honors.
Hanson and Maegan Mills were selected to All-Freshman Team, of which Hanson was a unanimous choice.
Throughout the season, TU players earned five conference Setter of the Week awards, three Freshmen of the Week and one Defensive Player of the Week.
Tulsa had an 11-match win streak at one point this season, and was 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.

TICKETS
Single-game tickets are now on sale for $12 per ticket per match for ages 4 and older and can be purchased in advance at TulsaHurricane.com or at the entrance of the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Season tickets also start at just $50. Season ticket members will receive 1 (one) membership card per ticket that they order that will be good for all 2025 TU Volleyball regular-season home matches in the Reynolds Center.

No refunds for canceled games due to weather-related or any other cause. CLICK HERE to start the process of ordering tickets or call 918-631-4688.

BALL KID SIGNUP
The Tulsa volleyball team is looking for ball kids for the 2026 season. Ball kids and one accompanying parent or guardian will receive free admission for games they sign up for. Ball kids will retrieve balls that go out of bounds on the sidelines for the entire game and provide a fresh ball for servers. Only ages 10-12 are allowed to participate. Individual and group signups will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up by clicking HERE.

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.