Aug. 30, 2012

Kansas Invitational Notes

TUlSA, Okla. - The University of Tulsa volleyball squad, after its defeat at Arkansas, will compete at the Kansas Invitational on Friday, August 31 and Saturday, September 1 in Lawrence, Kan. The Golden Hurricane will face Arkansas State on Friday at 2 p.m., Kansas on Friday at 7 p.m. and Nebraska-Omaha at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

The Hurricane, 2-2, is led by the reigning Conference USA Player of the Week in Tyler Henderson, who is averaging 6.21 kills per set and an attack percentage of .337. Jessica Adams, who was named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week paces the team with 5.21 digs per frame. Kellie Culbertson is second in the team in kills per set with 3.50, and third on the squad in digs per set with 3.43. Diana Silva holds the second spot in regards to digs per set with 4.36 and ranks third in kills per set with 2.57.

As a squad, Tulsa boasts a .213 attack percentage, 16.00 kills per set, 17.71 digs per set and 14.79 assists per stanza. The Hurricane is holding opponents to a .198 attack clip and only 10.71 kills per frame.

Arkansas State is 2-2 after sweeping Memphis 3-0 on Tuesday night. Last weekend, the Red Wolves went 1-2 at the Rice Invitational, defeating Rice (3-1), and losing to Brigham Young (3-0) and Air Force (3-1). The Red Wolves went 20-11 last year to win a third-straight Sun Belt Conference Crown, and returned five starters and the libero from last year's squad.

Kansas is 2-1 entering its tournament after defeating UT-Martin and Northwestern State, before falling to Arkansas at the Arkansas Invitational last weekend. Sara McClinton paces the Jayhawks in kills with 35, while Caroline Jarmoc is second with 34. Jarmoc was an All-Big 12 Preseason selection who finished last year second in the league in blocks (1.25 per set) and service aces (.28 per set). As a squad, Kansas returned five starters and the libero from 2011.

Nebraska Omaha, 3-0, won the Kristen Dickmann Invitational in Annapolis, Md. The Mavericks defeated Norfolk State 3-1, and swept Hartford and Navy. Kelley Wollak paces the squad with 33 kills, while Bailey Baxter leads the team with 95 assists. Valerie Hecht is averaging 1.10 blocks per set and is tied for fourth on the team with 17 kills.

After the tournament, the Hurricane will return to Tulsa for a road game against Oral Roberts on Tuesday, September 4 at 7 p.m. There will be a free bus for students to take from the TU campus down to ORU. Next weekend, Tulsa will compete in the Northern Colorado Tournament with matches against Northern Colorado, Creighton and Ball State.

For all Tulsa volleyball news and information, visit www.TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane. Follow Tulsa Volleyball on Twitter (www.twitter.com/TulsaVolleyball) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/TulsaVolleyball).