The Golden Hurricane has landed themselves back in the middle of the AAC, sports writer Joe McCurdy reports.
Tulsa volleyball has been in a rough spot as of late, losing five of their last six matches, growing into a five-game losing streak with their next two losses against Wichita State and Cincinnati. While it can be said that Tulsa has one of the more aggressive conference schedules in the AAC, to lose five straight is a shot to the team’s confidence and demeanor.
The team’s struggles grew against Wichita State, a match that was firmly in the grasp of the Hurricane who had won the first two sets 25-20 and 25-22, hitting above .300 in both. With a 3-0 sweep, and a much-needed win on the horizon, Tulsa began to relax, expecting Wichita State to succumb to the pressure of being down 2-0. The Shockers did no such thing, proceeding to take advantage of the Golden Hurricane’s ineptitudes, winning the third and fourth sets 25-15 and 25-18. It was truly a shock to the Tulsa team as they had to attempt to rally back from what was almost a guaranteed win. Witchita pulled out the reverse sweep, winning the third, fourth and eventually fifth set with a score of 15-12 and handing Tulsa their fourth straight conference loss.
Things had to get worse before they got better for this young Golden Hurricane squad as they had to continue their road trip and face the Bearcats of Cincinnati. Going into the match, both teams sat at the middle of the pack in the AAC so it was sure to be a battle between the two self-declared rivals. But it was yet another lackluster showing from Tulsa, losing the first two sets 25-21 and 25-18. In the third set, Tulsa showed some resemblance of a fighting spirit winning the set 25-16 but that was the extent of it as Tulsa proceeded to lose the fourth set 25-20.
There was a hump that Tulsa needed to get over, a spark that needed to be lit, a connection within the squad that had been missing for the previous five games. The team couldn’t focus on the previous games and only look to what was ahead of them and control what they can control to be as successful as they could be going forward. They had to take steps in the right direction to get over that hump. This seemed to have happened in their match against Tulane. The fourth game in their five game road trip was no longer a much needed win but rather a desperately needed win. Tulsa started fast and strong, going on a four point run early in the set, and finished the set with a five point run. Winning an opening set isn’t something Tulsa has been able to do since Wichita State and they made sure the same mistakes that were made against the Shockers were a one-time thing. They proceeded to win the following two sets 25-23 and 25-20 and got the win they so desperately needed. Snapping the five game losing streak and putting them back in the middle of the pack in the AAC where they could easily find their way into the top 4-5 teams in the AAC.
