Volleyball analyst Callie Hummel discusses how the team kept the game close and exciting and what we can look forward to from our volleyball team.
On Sept. 16 Tulsa’s volleyball team traveled to New Orleans to play their second conference game against Tulane University. With Tulane being ranked fourth in the conference, Tulsa went into the game knowing it would be a demanding match. While the games stayed relatively close in points, Tulane pulled ahead to win the match and Tulsa’s record was brought to 6-5.
Although Tulsa lost in three games, the first two games were kept within range with 25-14 scores, indicating an even match up between the two teams. Tulane had the lead for the majority of these two games, but Tulsa was not far behind, keeping the entire match close and exciting.
Tulsa started in a winning position at the beginning of the third game thanks to Hannah Overymyer, who first served an ace, and then continued to get her serves in while the rest of the team kept up the offensive attacks to put the team up 5-0. Although Tulsa took this early winning position, Tulane got possession of the ball and took control of the game. In the end, the final game of the match fell to Tulane with a 25-17 score. With this third win, the overall match score came out to 0-3, changing Tulane’s overall record to 9-5.
The standout junior outside hitter, Aysu Daloguallari, countered Tulane with a total of nine successful offensive kills. This high scoring game for Daloguallari brings her overall season kill record to 53 which ranks fifth highest out of her teammates. Bailey Rowe, a freshman outside hitter, also played in all three sets against Tulane with nine kills as well with the addition of one defensive block. With the Tulane game under her belt, Rowe still ranks second in overall team kills during her first year playing for TU with 85, right behind junior Kayley Cassaday who has led the team for the past two years.
Freshman libero Marta Pecalli led the team defensively again with 14 total digs, combating Tulane’s strong offensive side. She continues to be the lone libero on the team, despite this being her first year playing at the collegiate level, and her speciality in defense shows through with her stats. Overymeyer, a senior outside hitter for Tulsa, proved herself proficient on the defensive side even though she’s primarily an offensive player. Overymeyer gained the second most number of digs after Pecalli while still pulling two offensive kills.
This game also brought Tulsa’s ranking in the American Athletic Conference to 1-1. Their first conference game was an away game against Houston, which was one of the closest matches of their season. After losing the first game 13-25, Tulsa came back to win the third and fourth games at a close 25-22 and 25-23. Houston took the fourth game at 13-25 calling for a tiebreaking fifth match to determine a winner. With only a three point difference in the final game, Tulsa came out the winner with a 15-12 score. Volleyball plays their first home conference game on Oct. 1 at 1:30 p.m. against South Florida who is currently 0-2 in the conference and has a 6-7 overall record.
