Tulsa Hurricanes receive first conference loss since 2009 – Volleyball news
The SMU Mustangs broke the 26-match winning streak of the Tulsa Hurricanes volleyball squad on Wednesday, October 5, while playing in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Mustangs did an amazing job at attack and defence and marched away as winners as they posted a 3-1
(25-19, 15-25, 25-18, 25-23) victory over Hurricane. It was the first conference loss for Tulsa Hurricane in 2011 and overall they had not dropped any conference match since 2009. Victory improved the winning record of SMU to 6-11, while Golden Hurricane fell
to 13-5.
Jessica Oliver of Mustangs clipped a team-high 13 kills and recorded a hitting percentage of .308. Courtney Manning showed efficiency at defence and got her hands on nine blocks, two solo and seven assists. Moreover, she was also credited with seven kills.
Kelli Becerra supported her team with 26 assists and 9 digs, whereas Sidney Stewart contributed 14 digs in the match. Dana Powell, the outside hitter, earned her tenth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 18 digs.
On the other hand, Tyler Henderson topped all scorers with 20 points for TU. Her teammate, Diana Silva, got a double-double with 14 kills and 18 digs, while Jordan Clampitt added 26 assists and 12 digs. Bailey Clampitt put up a good struggle for Tulsa with
seven digs in the match.
The host team jumped out of the gate and picked up an early lead of 6-3 in the first set. In response, the visiting team Mustang hit with power and brought the game to an even point at 7-all. Gradually, SMU built the momentum and found a perfect rhythm to
surpass Golden Hurricane with a 10-2 run. SMU took full control of operations and remained remarkably consistent up to the first-set win at 25-19.
Second set was a see-saw battle as the home team tried hard to cover the deficit, while SMU wanted to maintain their dominance in the match. As a result, teams exchanged long rallies and score inched forward. Tulsa attacked aggressively and managed to push
SMU behind. Their better combination of spikes and blocks led TU to a second set win at 25-15.
The great come-back for Golden Hurricane in the second set created the impression that they had found their form but Mustangs rebounded with a massive strike in the third set and clinched success at 25-18. Continuing with the same momentum, they snatched
a fourth set from TU and declared match victory by 3-1.
Tulsa Head Coach, Steven McRoberts, regretted the loss of the important match. However, he appreciated the effort from SMU. He urged his players to improve on their flaws and get better in the next game. He stated: “We're going to have to get better and
we're going to have to mature as a team. We're going to come back at practice tomorrow and have a good hard practice in order to get ready for Southern Miss this weekend. We have to get over this, get ready for the next match and get better."
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