Sports editor Jaralynn Tammi Morellano says Tulsa had a strong start but the Hogs fought back.
The University of Tulsa women’s volleyball team had Donald W. Reynolds Center in an eruption of cheers as it prevailed over the No. 22 Arkansas Razorbacks in a stretched-out, five-set battle. This win over a nationally ranked team is the second in all of Golden Hurricane volleyball history.
“It means everything to us,” said middle blocker Rachel Brown. “We just wanted to go out and work as hard as we could, have fun, play as a team and show everything that we’ve got. We knew that we had to come out here and get it done. We wanted to come out aggressive but play clean. It’s amazing being a senior and seeing everything come together right now. Coach Ram really knows how to get us going and get us going together. It’s just amazing.”
The game was neck-and-neck from the very first set, the score reaching 9-9 with both teams unable to get past one point from one another. This tie was finally broken by Tulsa when they hit a 3-0 scoring run. The Razorbacks would not let up, closing the gap and causing the game to deadlock at 15-15. Despite its hard work to keep the Golden Hurricane at bay, the Razorbacks would start to slip when a service error followed by an attack error would put Tulsa up 17-15. From there, it would not let Arkansas take a lead or tie the score, and Tulsa took the set 25-21, and it would only fight harder as the game went on.
It was as if the Razorbacks had lost their edge from the upsetting loss of the first set, as they would continue to be dragged down by the Golden Hurricane. This set was, by far, the most challenging as the score tied nine times with four lead changes. The Golden Hurricane hit another upstream when a scoring run put them at 14-11, and it rode this high until it took the second set 25-18.
In the third set, the roles would switch to the Golden Hurricane’s dismay. Arkansas would hit scoring streak after scoring streak to take the set 25-17. Tulsa was starting to feel the pressure of this nationally ranked team, Arkansas forcing a .000 hitting percentage in the third.
The Hogs would not let up in the fourth set, taking the lead earlier on in the set and not allowing any ties or lead changes. Outside hitter Lauren Eitler of the Golden Hurricane had five kills in this set, and Tulsa would play a decent defensive game. However, the sudden spark of the Razorbacks could not be quelled, and it took the set 25-22 to turn this into a five-set match.
With the score being 2-2 in this match, the Golden Hurricane put in its all knowing it was the final stretch of the competition. Tulsa would prove its scoring prowess in this final set, forcing a 10-4 lead to stomp out the Hogs. The Razorbacks would see a glimmer of hope when it began to creep up behind Tulsa 11-7, but the Golden Hurricane would destroy any dreams of redemption when the Golden Hurricane’s frontline led the team to a victory with four outstanding kills. The final score of 15-8 gave the game to Tulsa.
This game was the kickoff to the Tulsa Invitational, and the Golden Hurricane continued on to face Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma. Tulsa beat Austin 3-1 and fell to Oklahoma 2-3.
