Sports editor Jaralynn Tammi Morellano says Tulsa earned its first conference loss of the season.
The University of Tulsa’s volleyball team hosted a game against Rice, the American Athletic Conference preseason favorite, and fell 3-1 on Friday, Oct. 4 in the Donald W. Reynolds Center. This served as the Golden Hurricane’s first conference loss of the season while Rice furthered its conference winning streak Tulsa now stands at a 2-1 record for conference play with a 10-5 overall, and the Owls stand 3-0 in the American with an overall record of 8-4.
The game was an impressive defensive match, both teams having the top digging members in the conference. Tulsa averaged 23.25 digs as Rice averaged 22.25 per set. Friday’s match saw both teams averaging over 16.5 per set.
The first set started off strong for the Golden Hurricane, who took the first point of the night off of a kill by outside hitter Tatum Tornatta. This set would be a bumpy road for both teams, the frame seeing nine tie scores and five lead changes. Despite getting the first score, Tulsa would run itself into a corner as it allowed the Owls to take a six-point lead when the game stood 10-16.
The Golden Hurricane exhausted itself clawing its way back into the competition, but its hard work paid off when it was able to bring the game to a 18-18 standstill. Tulsa even went on to take the lead 21-20, but it was unable to hold onto this lead and eventually gave the set to the Owls 22-25. Brushing off its mistakes, Tulsa rammed right out of the gates in the second set and went on a 6-1 scoring streak. Feeling the pressure, Rice took a timeout to try to cool down Tulsa’s hot streak. The effects of this break was apparent when it allowed the Owls to tie the game 13-13. The Golden Hurricane broke the tie, but Rice would continue to cling on as it tied the score at 14-14 and 18-18. After breaking the 18-18 tie, Tulsa continued to push forward and held the lead. With seven kills served up by outside hitter Beth Bayless, Tulsa was able to run away with the set 25-21 to bring the match 1-1.
From then, the match would only take a sour turn for Tulsa. Despite leading for the majority of the third set, the Owls made a killer comeback. The Golden Hurricane held major leads throughout the match, leading by as much as four points three times. The most crucial lead was the one Tulsa held at 20-16, only having five points to take another set. Tulsa would stumble hard and allow Rice to not only tie the game 21-21, but to also take the set 22-25.
The Owls were raring to go in the fourth, just a single set away from taking the entire match. Tulsa would struggle to keep up with the Owls in the first half, losing by as much as seven points with the score standing 10-3. It was able to fight to a six-point deficit (13-7), which made the Owls cautious and forced a timeout. Despite the impressive performance to stay within the game, this would be Tulsa’s lowest scoring set. It would eventually fall to the Owls 18-25.
Following this match, the Golden Hurricane faced Tulane in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday, Oct. 6. Its next home game match will be another conference match against Florida Atlantic on Friday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. in the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Rice faced Wichita State on Sunday, Oct. 6 and will face its next conference match against North Texas.
