Aug. 22, 2000

* Hurricane Closes Out 1999 With Split

For the final four matches of the season, the Hurricane went on a road trip, two matches in Louisiana and two matches in Texas. Louisaina was fun, Texas not as much fun.

Tulsa defeated Centenary (La.) and Grambling State (La.), both in three games (15-6, 15-9, 16-14) and (15-11, 15-6, 15-1). Senior Juliet Klemm (Chalan Pago, Guam) led the Hurricane attack with 17 and 11 kills respectively in the the two matches. Junior Kristien Van Lierop raised her career double-double numbers to 37 with 14 kills and 11 digs against Centenary.

Van Lierop again added another double-double against SMU, however the Hurricane were unable to stop the Mustangs. TU lost in three games (15-9, 15-7, 17-15). Nothing went right for the Hurrincane in the season finale, as TU lost in three games (16-14, 15-7, 15-5). The Hurricane finished the contest with a -.033 hitting percentage, the lowest of the season.

Tulsa ends the 1999 campaign with a 10-18 overall record and a 2-12 record in the Western Athletic Conference.

 * Tulsa Wins, Tulsa Wins, Tulsa Wins, Tulsa Wins

In four matches with schools from the Cajun State, TU is 4-0, in fact it has not lost a game to a Louisiana squad.

The Hurricane defeated Louisana-Monroe (15-5, 15-10, 15-9) and Northwestern State (15-9, 15-4, 15-10) in the Dr. Tom Cairns Hurricane Classic in September. Last week, TU then defeated Centenary (15-11, 15-6, 16-14) and Grambling State (15-11, 15-6, 15-1) on a weekend swing. The Hurricane has won the 12 games by a combined score of 181-94 or by an average of 15.1-7.8. TU has also out hit those schools .293 to .127, by using a 187-97 kills advantage.

* Klemm to Close Out Season With Another Record

With two more matches left in her TU career, senior Juliet Klemm has certainly made her mark in the Hurricane record books. In TU's match at Grambling State (La.), Klemm broke the record for solo blocks in a career (78).

Earlier this season, she set a new mark for block assists in a career (317), which was quickly followed by the record for total blocks in a career (395). This past weekend, she raised the bar for solo blocks in a career. All three previous records were owned by Jennifer Sondrup (1995-98), who set them last season.

Klemm also owns the school records for block assists in a season (115), block assists in a match (12) and hitting percentage for a match (.883).

 * Van Lierop breaks Ace record

Junior Kristien Van Lierop capped a record-setting year for the Hurricane by setting a new school record for service aces in a career. With three aces against Grambling State on Saturday afternoon, Van Lierop eclipsed the old mark of 102 set by Monika Tupholme (1992-96). Van Lierop now has 103 in her career and a team high 29 this season. She already owns the school record for aces in a season with 48, which she set as a freshman.

The aces record was the eighth mark Van Lierop has broken while at TU. She currently owns school records for kills in a match (27), kills for a season (383), digs for a season (359), kills for a career (1101), attacks for a career (2,869), and digs for a career (955).

* Hurricane Turning it up during WAC Play

Several Hurricane players are raising their game to another level during conference play. Marked improvements in several categories, from kills to blocks, can be seen on the TU stat sheet.

Senior Juliet Klemm has a better hitting percentage as well as blocks per game average in WAC play compared to her overall averages. She is one of five Hurricane players who have improved hitting stats during conference play, and one of five who have improved blocking stats. Sophomore Ashley Frogge' (Collinsville, Okla.) has improved her numbers across the board. She has improved kills per game, hitting percentage, service aces per game, digs per game as well as blocks per game.

* TU Notes

• Lone seniorJuliet Klemm ranks ninth in the WAC in hitting with a .256 percentage. She also ranks sixth in blocks per game with a 1.11 average.
  

• Setter Shannon Smith ranks seventh in the WAC in assists per game (10.44).
  

• Van Lierop ranks third in the WAC in digs per game at 3.27 per game, fourth in kills per game with 4.24.
  

• Kara Hidinger (Zionsville, Ind.) has raised her kills per game from 1.58 to 2.12 since coming back from injury at the start of WAC play, the highest increase on the squad for conference play.
  

• With eight road wins this season, Tulsa has won more road matches this season than any other team in school history. The 8-6 overall road record is only the third winning road record for TU. In 1980, the 'Cane went 4-0 and in 1979 went 3-1 on the road.
  

• With 21 victories over the last two seasons, the Hurricane finish with the best two-year total since the 1985-86 seasons with 24.