Friday Night College Volleyball Roundup

Tulsa Volleyball Comes Back From a 2-0 Deficit to Defeat LIU Brooklyn

NORMAN, Okla. – Three players record double-doubles as the University of Tulsa volleyball team comes back from an 2-0 deficit to defeat LIU Brooklyn 3-2 (18-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-15, 15-10) Friday night in McCasland Field House at the Nike Invitational.

Senior outside hitter Kellie Culbertson led TU with her 10th double-double of the season with a career-high 20 kills and 26 digs and added three block assists against the Blackbirds.

The Long Beach, Calif., has totaled 83 digs in her last three matches and has recorded 70 kills in her last four matches.

Junior outside hitter Valerie El Houssine added her sixth double-double on the season with 15 kills and 21 digs. The Eghezee, Belgium recorded 14 of her 15 kills and 15 of her 21 digs in the last three sets.

Junior setter Bailey Clampitt recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 30 assists and 13 digs. Freshman setter Genesis Viera added 20 assists, while freshman libero Brooke Berryhill added 25 digs.

Tulsa (9-5) recorded 40 kills and 65 digs in the final three sets. The Golden Hurricane tied a season-high with 12.0 blocks and set a season-high with 104 digs in the five set match.

LIU Brooklyn (6-5) was led by Tamara Ignjic with 19 kills, Vera Djuric with 39 assists and Adriana Vinas Joy with 26 digs. Annika Foit recorded a double-double with 16 kills and 16 digs, while Djuric added 23 digs and Ignjic added 13 digs for a double-double. Mirjana Rajic added 12 digs.

Tulsa continues the Nike Invitational with two matches on Saturday, starting with a match against Miami at 10 a.m. The Hurricane finishes the tournament against Nebraska Omaha at 4:30 p.m.

The Golden Hurricane returns home on Friday, Sept. 27 at 5 p.m. against Italian U23 Team in an exhibition match in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Sooners Drop Game Two of NIKE Invitational

NORMAN, Okla. - The Sooners dropped their second game of the season Friday night in a 3-0 loss to the Miami Hurricanes at the NIKE Invitational.

Miami took set one 25-18 on the back of 19 kills and eight digs from junior outside-hitter Savanah Leaf. The Sooners struggled offensively in the first set, hitting .132 and committing eight errors.

Oklahoma stepped up defensively in the second set and held the Hurricanes to a .184 hitting percentage but fell 25-22. The Sooners got off to a quick start in the third, taking a 3-0 lead. Miami then went on a 6-0 run to take the lead 6-3 and never looked back, winning the set 25-16 and sweeping the match.

The Sooners fall to 11-2 on the season and 2-3 all-time against the Hurricanes.

Coach Restrepo credits Miami's well rounded performance for their win.

"That's a very solid team," Restrepo said. "They pass extremely well, they pass very tough and they block very well. They deflect a lot of balls. You name it, they did it well."

Oklahoma was led defensively by sophomore libero Taylor Migliazzo and senior outside-hitter Keila Rodriguez with 15 and 13 digs respectively.

Senior Sallie McLaurin led the Sooners with nine kills and sophomore Kierra Holst added eight. Sophomore setter Julia Doyle recorded 23 assists.

Rodriguez knows the Sooners can play better.

"We didn't do our best," Rodriguez said. "We didn't have our momentum and when we had it we lost it and we just didn't find a way to bring it back."

The Sooners struggled to find a rhythm offensively, hitting just .139 for the game and totaling 19 errors. The shaky offensive performance often interrupted runs that could have put Oklahoma over the top.

Defensively Oklahoma allowed Miami to total 48 kills and hit .291 for the night. McLaurin looks for the Sooners to show more mental toughness the next time out.

"We can learn to be mentally there," McLaurin said. "I think we weren't even present on the court. We didn't really play well at all."

The Sooners aim to get back on track when they take the court again Saturday night against LIU Brooklyn at 7 p.m. at the McCasland Field House.