Saturday, September 13th 2014, 11:21 pm
OU's Third-Set Comeback Secures Sweep
NORMAN, Okla. – After narrowly taking the first two sets, the University of Oklahoma volleyball team had to fight from behind to claim the third and earn a 3-0 win over Lamar in the NIKE Invitational finale at McCasland Field House, Saturday afternoon. The Sooners swept the field and improved to 8-2 on the season, while the Cardinals fell to 0-9.
Oklahoma trailed in each set, but prevailed by scores of 25-23, 25-22 and 27-25 for its fourth three-set win of the season. Junior outside hitter Kierra Holst was named the Most Valuable Player of the invitational, while sophomore outside hitter Kimmy Gardiner and freshman middle blocker Marion Hazelwood each earned a spot on the All-Invitational Team.
“It is extremely important. During a timeout I said to the team, ‘somebody [beat us] at 22-18, no let's do it to somebody else and it's our house. We've got to win in our house,'” said head coach Santiago Restrepo on his team's ability to bounce back in the third.
Junior libero Taylor Migliazzo had a stellar defensive match with a team-high 16 digs.
“[Lamar] is a tough team. They get you on your heels because they run a very fast offense. They have two very good middles and are very talented. It was about us adjusting for us.”
Redshirt-sophomore outside hitter Madison Ward tallied a match-leading 10 kills and added five digs and three blocks. Hazelwood added eight kills, while Holst notched seven.
Junior setter Julia Doyle registered 29 assists and chipped in with six blocks.
For Lamar, Courtney Moore led the way with nine kills and hit a match-high .318. Libero Erika Rojas earned a spot on the All-Invitational Team with a 16-dig effort.
The Sooners hit only .165, while the Cardinals owned a .125 attack rate. The two teams combined for 31 service aces in the match.
Oklahoma is on the road next week for three matches in the state of North Carolina, beginning with a match at Wake Forest on Thursday.
Tulsa Volleyball Splits Final Day of Diet Coke Classic
TULSA, Okla. - The University of Tulsa volleyball team went 1-1 on the final day of the Diet Coke Classic, dropping its opening match to Iowa State, 3-1 (19-25, 31-29, 12-25, 12-25), before sweeping Milwaukee, 25-21, 25-20, 25-23, as the Hurricane wrap up its final road tournament of the 2014 season.
On the day, Valerie El Houssine finished with a team-high 29 kills to go along with her 20 digs, while Bailey Clampitt finished the weekend with two more double-doubles and a couple of 30-plus assist performances and Bohannon rallied off a team-high 29 combined kills, as the Hurricane now look forward to its first home matches of the season.
Tulsa dropped its matinee match on Saturday against the Cyclones, as Clampitt recorded her 33 assists and 10 digs, while Bohannon finished with a match-high 17 kills.
Senior El Houssine finished the match with a team-high 14 digs to go along with seven kills, while sophomore libero Brooke Berryhill added 13 digs more to her to season stat line.
The Hurricane got off to a fast start having a lead or a share of the lead through the first 21 points of the match, while holding onto a slim 11-10 lead. The Cyclones were able to capture its first lead of the frame, running off two straight points, and did not surrender the advantage the rest of the set. Bohannon led TU with five kills in the frame.
The second set proved to be the longest frame of the Hurricane season, with nine ties and three lead changes as the Hurricane were able to level up the match. ISU looked to be in control early on, racing out to an 11-7 lead. Tulsa battled back and went on an 8-4 run to even the set at 15-15. With the score 24-23 in favor of the Hurricane, the Cyclones managed to extend the set knotting the score at 25-25. TU had three more set points before the Cyclones committed a set-dropping attack error to even the match, 1-1.
ISU played angry the rest of he way, forcing Tulsa to just 24 total points in the final two sets to move to 5-2 on the season.
The Cyclones had four players with double digit kills, led by Alexis Conaway's team-high 12 kills and 11 block assists. Suzane Horner finished with a match-high 50 assists, while Caitlin Nolan led all players with 27 digs.
In the Hurricane sweep against the Panthers (4-6), Bohannon added another 12 kills, while Berryhill finished with a team-high 11 digs.
The first set was all Tulsa. After falling briefly behind 4-1, the Hurricane went one a 10-1 and never looked back. TU looked to close out the set going up, 23-19, however, the Panthers got within two, forcing Tulsa to call a timeout. After the timeout, UWM committed two-straight attack, giving TU the opening frame.
The second frame saw more of the same after just three changes in the early going. Junior Ashley Hooper finished the frame with four kills on six attacks without committing an error.
The third game was more tightly contested as the Panthers were able to gain an 8-4 lead on the Hurricane. The Hurricane then went on a 5-1 run, including back-to-back kills from Hooper and Houssine to tie the frame at 9-9. UWM looked to close out the set going up 20-15, when Ryan Wills called a crucial timeout. After the short break Houssine and Bohannon ran off two straight kills to force a Panther timeout. Tulsa showed grit after the timeout finishing the set on an 8-3 run to win its final match of the tournament.
Hannah Blanchard led all Panthers with 13 kills in the match.
The Hurricane will finally head home for its first home matches of the season where it will take on both Oral Roberts and Mcneese State next weekend.
Louisiana Sweeps ORU In Houston Finale
HOUSTON, Texas – A difficult weekend came to an end for the Oral Roberts University volleyball team on Saturday as they fell to Louisiana, 3-0, at the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup. ORU went 0-3 at the tournament and is now 5-6 for the season.
The opening frame was extremely tight, with ORU taking a 24-22 lead on a McKenna Qualls kill. But UL fought off the set points, and after another Qualls kill the Ragin' Cajuns turned ORU away a third time. Stacey Reilly notched a kill on Louisiana's first match point.
In the second set, Louisiana scored the first two points and never trailed. An Auxilien service ace pushed the lead to 14-6, and the set was never again in doubt. Nemeth came up with the kill on Louisiana's second set point.
ORU again conceded the first two points in the final set, though they came back to build a 9-7 lead on a Pope kill. But Louisiana rallied by scoring seven of eight points, and a Gardner block made it 15-11. She added a kill on the second match point to clinch the sweep.
Sara Pope led ORU with 10 kills and nine digs, while Jovana Poljasevic and Laura Milos each recorded two service aces in the loss.
For Louisiana, Kaylee Nemeth and Chanelle Gardner each had eight kills, and Caitlyn Auxilien led all players with 12 digs.
ORU hit .165 in the match, while Louisiana hit at a .330 clip. The Golden Eagles did not record a block in the loss. It's the first time the Golden Eagles have gone without a block since a 3-1 loss to Tulsa on Sept. 18, 2007.
ORU's next scheduled match is Friday at crosstown rival Tulsa.
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