University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Tulsa
Memphis Falls in Straight Sets to Tulsa
Oct 16, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 16, 2011
Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis women's volleyball ran into a buzz saw Sunday as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane swept the Tigers, 25-22, 25-19, 25-11, to record their eighth C-USA victory. Memphis (15-7, 4-5 C-USA) was led by 11 kills from Altrese Hawkins and 12 digs from Alexsandra Petronijevic.
"Tulsa is a very good team, and there is a reason they are first in the league," Head coach April Jauregui said. "They play a low error game."
Tulsa established an early 8-4 lead in set one after three straight Tiger attack errors. Memphis fought back with a 4-1 spurt to cut the deficit to just one point at 13-12 but was thwarted in the comeback attempt by a kill from Tulsa's Tyler Henderson. However, the Tigers stayed close and got another chance at 16-18 when a Tulsa service error followed by an attack error allowed Memphis to knot the score. The two teams then traded 3-0 spurts to set up a showdown at 21-21. Tulsa ultimately won the four-point battle with back-to-back blocks to take the set 25-22.
In the second set, it was Memphis who took an early lead at 5-3 but saw the advantage quickly evaporate on the strength of a 5-0 Tulsa run. Lauren Hawkins finally got a score for the Tigers with a kill down the line, but the Golden Hurricane forged ahead to go up 15-8. After trading scores, Memphis responded with a 6-0 streak of its own to get within one point, but a timely Tulsa block left the Tigers still trailing. From there, the Golden Hurricane sprinted to a 25-19 win.
"We had our chances in the first two sets and kept it close, but our unforced errors cost us," Jauregui said. "We need to cross the hurdle of thinking we can be good to believing that we are. We will be ready to play Rice on Friday."
The Tigers once again started fast in set three only to see Tulsa roar back with nine straight points to go up 11-4. Hawkins finally broke through with a kill to get Memphis back on the board, but the damage had already been done as the Golden Hurricane rode the momentum to a 25-11 victory.
Memphis will next be in action Friday at Rice. Match time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
