Aug. 25, 2012

Box Score | Box Score

Norman, Okla. - Junior Kellie Culbertson collected 12 digs and 10 kills, while senior Tyler Henderson added 17 kills as The University of Tulsa volleyball squad swept Missouri State 25-22, 25-14 25-22 at the Nike Invitational Saturday morning in Norman, Okla.

The Golden Hurricane (2-0) defeated the Bears for the first time in program history, as TU dropped the previous 16 meetings against MSU.

"I thought we fought through some adversity against a very good team," commented Head Coach Steven McRoberts. "Defensively, Missouri State gave us a lot more problems than Western Michigan last night, and they did a good job at the net. You can see that with their block numbers and also in what they forced us into hitting."

Culbertson, who had 14 digs and 10 kills last night, put up an attack percentage of .259 and also had three service aces on the match. Libero Jessica Adams added 16 digs, while Diana Silva recorded 12 digs and five kills. Senior Jordan Clampitt paced TU with 23 assists, while Bailey Clampitt tallied 13 assists.

As a squad, Tulsa had an attack percentage of .160 with 44 kills on 131 attempts, while Missouri State had a clip of .093 with 26 kills on 97 swings. The Bears outblocked the Hurricane 9.0-7.0, and also tallied 57 digs compared to TU's 51 digs.

The first set saw 10 ties and five lead changes as TU went on to win the frame 25-22. Neither team hit the ball well as Tulsa's attack clip was .043, while MSU had an attack percentage of .028.

After a slow start in the second stanza which Tulsa had a narrow lead of 7-6, Tulsa took control of the match scoring 12 of the next 15 points to take a 19-9 lead. The Hurricane ultimately took the set 25-14, as the squad hit .314. Culbertson had six of 10 kills in the second frame, while Tyler Henderson tallied an attack clip of .444.

The third set was very similar to the first as neither team could gain control of the set as there were eight ties and six lead changes. After Missouri State took a 20-18 lead, the Hurricane stormed back to take a lead of 22-20 thanks to back to back kills by Miriele Gobbo and took home the match 25-22.

"I thought we were better at the net today, as we had a lot more quality touches at the net," McRoberts said. "This first weekend is a learning curve, I think we saw some things today that were good and also some things that we need to work on."

Oklahoma 3, Tulsa 2

Tyler Henderson scored 29 kills and Kellie Culbertson and Diana Silva each tallied double-doubles, but the Golden Hurricane fell to the Sooners in five sets, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 18-25, 12-15.

Henderson, who hit .300 in the match, and Jessica Adams, who led the Golden Hurricane with 25 digs, were selected to the Nike Invitational All-Tournament team.

For the full recap, click here.

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