Tulsa Earns First C-USA Tournament Title
Nov. 18, 2007
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - After playing back-to-back five-game matches, the No. 4 seed Tulsa Golden Hurricane won its first Conference USA Volleyball Championship title with a 30-27, 24-30, 20-30, 30-22, 15-12 victory over No. 3 seed UAB (24-9) Sunday inside the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, W.Va. For the third-straight year and sixth time in tournament history , the conference tournament title has been decided in five games. For the second-straight match, Tulsa was strong defensively as five players had more than 10 digs. Junior libero Malorey Grove had a career-high performance with a match-best 38 digs, followed by senior Julia Silva's 17 and freshman Nicole Boyle had 16. Junior Kelsey Wood added 12 digs and freshman Jessie Ayers contributed 11 digs in the win. Silva earned tournament MVP honors after guiding to the title match and averaging 12.15 assists per game and recording a triple-double in the semifinal match against top seed Marshall. "This is just a very special moment for us, to win today and beat Marshall on their home floor means a lot," Silva said. "Being picked fifth in the preseason and finishing fourth overall with as many freshmen as we have is a great accomplishment. This is very special for all of us." All-C-USA first team selection, Fabiola Nepomuceno landed a match-best 27 kills and had four blocks. Nepomuceno averaged 6.15 kills per game for all-tournament honors. Freshman outside hitter Emma Ridley had a career-best 22 kills, while freshman middle Hannah Stout chipped in 10 and had a match-best 10 blocks. Stout was named to the All-C-USA Freshman team. Tulsa takes its record to 27-8 overall and 7-3 went pushed to the limits. In just two years with the program head coach Ed Allen has guided the Golden Hurricane to the program's first volleyball championship title. In his first season (2006), he led the program to its first regular season crown.
"It was a tremendous team effort," said Allen. "We did a great job coming back after the Marshall match. There were points both yesterday and today that we had some lapses in ball control and struggled defensively, but we fought through it. We just knew that if we were able to get to game five, we would be in good shape." The Tulsa men's soccer team also advances to the NCAA Championship by winning the C-USA Tournament title Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Florida International. UAB had three players with double-doubles and four players with 10-plus kills. Senior outside hitter Fernanda Domingos landed a team-best 19 kills and had 14 digs for her fourth double-double and second of the tournament. Junior setter Nevena Stefanov ended with a match-high 58 assists and 16 digs for her 10th double-double of the year. Junior middle blocker Casey Dent added 16 kills and 12 digs, while senior libero Brianna Galvin contributed a team-best 26 digs. The team stats were nearly identical as UAB hit .190 to Tulsa's .171 and had 74 kills to TU's 71. Tulsa edged the Blazers by two in digs with 104 and tallied 14.5 blocks to UAB's 13. Each team dished out over 65 assists (68 TU, 66 UAB). Tulsa knows it will be competing in the 2007 NCAA Championship, but UAB, Tulane and Marshall will have to wait for an at-large bid during the NCAA selection show on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. CT on ESPNU. "Winning the regular season title last year and following that up with the tournament win this year is great for our program," Allen replied. "On top of that, we will get the first NCAA Tournament bid in program history. It is definitely a great step for us." First and second round matches will be played on campus sites the last weekend of November, followed by Regionals Dec. 7-8. The women's volleyball Final Four will be Dec. 13-15 at ARCO Arena in Sacrament, Calif. All-Tournament Team
2007 C-USA VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND QUARTERFINAL SEMIFINALS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH 10: TULSA 3, MARSHALL 2 TU dropped the opening match 30-19, but fought tooth and nail the rest of the way for a 34-32, 24-30, 32-30, 21-19 victory inside the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, W.Va., Saturday. The win advances the Golden Hurricane to its first C-USA volleyball championship match. Tulsa had five players with 10-or-more kills and four players with 10-plus digs. TU was led by a pair of seniors and All-C-USA first team picks in Julia Silva and Fabiola Nepomuceno. Silva had her 10th triple-double of the year with 12 kills, 62 assists and 16 digs, while Nepomuceno landed a career-best 31 kills. Hanna Stout, a member of C-USA All-Freshman team, added 13 kills, followed by rookie teammate Emma Ridley's 11 and Renee Brooks 10. Junior libero Malorey Grove led the team with 19 digs, followed by Silva's 16, freshman Nicola Boyle added 13 and junior Kelsey Wood tallied 11 in the victory. As a team, TU hit .240, had 81 kills, 72 digs, seven service aces and 11 team blocks. "To come in here and play as well as we did against an unbelievable team like Marshall is great," said TU head coach Ed Allen. "They have four seniors who had outstanding careers. The significance of this is that we didn't just come in and beat a good team, we beat a very good team and that is really special for us. For the second-straight match, Marshall senior Kelly-Anne Billingy produced a double-double with a match-best 31 kills and had 13 digs. Junior outside hitter Jalicia Ross ended the evening with 18 kills on 27 attempts for a solid .593 hitting efficiency, while senior outside hitter Stephanie Cahill added 17 kills and 11 digs for her 20th double-double. C-USA Freshman of the Year Elizabeth Fleming guided the Herd offense with a match-best 73 assists and 13 digs for her ninth double-double of her rookie campaign. Marshall's ace was its serve as the Herd landed a season-best 15, including six in game one and four-straight by Billingy, C-USA Player of the Year. The Herd hit .289, had 86 kills, 78 digs, had eight team blocks and 81 assists in the loss. Marshall ends tournament play with an overall record of 23-9. "The opportunity to play UAB, in a matchup that we lost earlier this season, for the championship is going to be special," Allen said. "We have to play better defense and match the effort we put out tonight. It should be a very entertaining match." MATCH NINE: UAB 3, TULANE 1 UAB (24-8) advances to the C-USA title match for the second-straight time in program history. The Blazers defense dominated the Green Wave after the first stanza, holding Tulane to .070 and -.024 hitting percentages in the second and four games. UAB stood tall on the blocks recording 22 block assists and two solos. The 13 total team blocks matches a tournament best. Five players had three-or-more blocks, led by senior Shaniquwa Cooper's six and junior transfer Lilly Domingos five. Cooper established a championship record for most block assists (15) and total blocks (15) a year ago against Tulsa. "Our starting outside hitter (Aleksandra Vujovic) hurt her ankle (in yesterday's match) so she played back row today so I'm happy we were able to overcome that," said UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith. "We started slow (in game one) but our serving and blocking kept them out of their system. Our defense, especially our blocking, was very crucial tonight. "We're excited to be going back to the championship match and look forward to facing one of these outstanding teams." Offensively, UAB got its firepower from senior right-side hitter Fernanda Domingos who recorded her third double-double of the season with 21 kills and 11 digs. She also ended with a match-best .421 hitting efficiency. Middle blockers Andrea Lalic and Casey Dent added 13 and 12 kills apiece. All-C-USA first team selections, Sara Radosevic and Ksenija Vlaskovic led the Green Wave with 25 and 16 kills, respectively, while C-USA Libero of the Year, Jenn Miller, finished with a match-high 16 digs. Luna Rebrovic and Rachel Lindelow ran the offense with 30 and 23 assists each. Tulane ended its final tournament match hitting .177 (61K, 32E, 164TA). The team collected 51 digs, had 57 assists and 10 blocks in four games. Tulane drops its overall record to 27-6 and will be awaiting an NCAA at-large bid. MATCH EIGHT: TULSA 3, MEMPHIS 0 Nepomuceno hit .455 with 22 kills on 44 attempts with only two errors on the evening. Senior Julia Silva, C-USA Setter of the Year, dished out 39 assists and had 10 digs for her league-best 29th double-double of the year. Silva remains the only C-USA player with 20-or-more double-doubles. Junior libero Malorey Grove tied a match-high with 15 digs, while freshman Nicola Boyle chipped in 11. "We played a very good Memphis team tonight," said Ed Allen, Tulsa head coach. "I was extremely pleased with our ball control. We were putting the ball where we wanted it consistently. Our offense and defense kept (Memphis) out of their system. "We have a huge task (tomorrow versus No. 1 Marshall). They are extremely talented and have a lot of balance. Playing them on their home court will be a challenge but it will be fun as well." Memphis was led by senior Ashley Liford who had 10 kills and nine digs. Junior Sarah Bury and freshman Christine Bach matched Grove with 15 digs. Tulsa had the best offensive attack of the tournament hitting .325, compared to .168 by the Tigers. TU also had more digs, 61-49. Tulsa (25-8) will now have to face host and top seed Marshall (23-8) Saturday night at 6 p.m. Memphis concludes its season with an overall record of 23-12. MATCH SEVEN: MARSHALL 3, EAST CAROLINA 1 Marshall got an all-around performance as four players notched double-doubles on the evening. Leading the way was seniors outside hitter and All-C-USA first team picks, Kelly-Anne Billingy and Stephanie Cahill. Billingy, C-USA Player of the Year, led the match with 23 kills and added 17 digs for her sixth double-double of the year. Cahill increased her team-leading double doubles to 19 as she recorded 22 kills and 11 digs. With 11 kills and 11 digs, sophomore Kristin Marcum produced her fourth double-double for the Thundering Herd. "We started off well but got too comfortable early," Cahill said. "Game three was a big letdown and that's when I think we realized we have to play a lot better." Quarterbacking the Herd victory was C-USA Freshman of the Year Elizabeth Fleming. Fleming dished out a match-high 65 assists and had 11 digs, marking her eighth double-double of the year. "We had a relatively easy time in game one and I think we thought that would translate into an easy game two," said Marshall head coach Mitch Jacobs. But when you're playing East Carolina, it's never easy. We had to fight hard to win that second game and I thought it would be a wake-up call, but we got smashed in game three. We had a nice comeback in game four because Stephanie Cahill and Jalicia Ross were huge for us." Senior outside hitter Kelley Wernert lived up to her All-C-USA first team honors as she led the Pirates with 16 kills and 11 digs for her 14th double-double of the season and 27th of her career. Sophomore Stephanie Turner also had a solid day at the office where she landed 13 kills, hit. 524 and had eight digs. Sophomore Peyton Thompson contributed 12 kills and Trish Monroe had a match-high 18 digs. As a team, Marshall landed 73 kills, hit .257 and had 67 digs. The Pirates had 57 kills, hit. 225 and totaled 58 digs. ECU had 13 blocks to Marshall's nine. East Carolina wrapped up its year at 15-17, while Marshall (23-8) moves to the quarterfinals to face the winner of the Tulsa/Memphis match. MATCH SIX: UAB 3, SOUTHERN MISS 0 UAB was led by juniors Casey Dent's 19 kills and Aleksandra Vujovic 14. Dent, an All-C-USA selection, ended the match with a solid .472 hitting efficiency (19K, 2E, 36TA) and chipped in three digs. "I'm excited about the win and am looking forward to moving on to the next round," said UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith. Junior setter Nevena Stefanov had her ninth double-double of the season with 48 assists and 11 digs. Stefanov was named to the All-C-USA first team prior to the tournament. "We started off good but then we slowed down a bit," Stefanov said. "We didn't communicate well, but I think we'll get it fixed before the next match. A win is a win, especially in three games after we went five games with (Southern Miss) during the season. We weren't playing at a high level, though, and we need less errors and more focus before tomorrow." Senior Morgan Johnson led Southern Miss with 10 kills, while sophomore libero Maia Ivanova led the team defensively with 10 digs. Senior middle blocker Amanda Huntoon stepped up at the net with seven blocks on the afternoon. UAB produced a .246 hitting efficiency to Southern Miss' .066. However, the Golden Eagles out blocked the Blazers, 12 to seven. Southern Miss wraps up its 2007 slate at 13-21. Saturday's first semifinal match will feature No. 2 seed Tulane (27-5) against No. 3 seed UAB (23-8) at 4 p.m.
MATCH FIVE: TULANE 3, RICE 0 The first match of the quarterfinals of the 2007 C-USA Volleyball Championship Friday went to No. 2 seed Tulane as the Green Wave swept seventh-seed Rice, 30-26, 30-26, 30-28. The four-day tournament is being hosted by Marshall University inside the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, W.Va. "I'm proud of the way we came out focused and realized that it would be a tough match against Rice," said head coach Liz Kritza. "We knew that they matched up well with us. It wasn't always pretty, but we'll take the win. "This team embraces the idea of improving every match. This win is a definite plus for our program." Two-time All-C-USA first team selection Sara Radosevic led the Green Wave with 22 kills and 11 digs, while hitting .312 for the match.With a pair service aces, Radosevic set Tulane's single-season record with 67, topping Gina Vaccaro's 1991 mark of 66. She also became the fifth player ever at Tulane to reach 1,400 kills in her career, finishing with 1,410. Radosevic was assisted by sophomore outside hitter Ksenija Vlaskovic who landed 17 kills, followed by Bridget Wells' 11. C-USA Libero of the Year, Jenn Miller had a match-best 22 digs. "We played well today and I'm glad we got out the nervousness of playing in our first match, especially because we lost in the first round last year," Miller said. "We came together well and it's awesome." Rice was led by sophomore middle blocker Natalie Bogan and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer McClean with 10 kills apiece. Tracey Lam, All-C-USA Freshman team member, had a team-best 18 digs. Tulane hit .303 for the match and had 65 kills to Rice's 46. The Owls recorded a .241 clip and had 48 digs and nine blocks. Tulane picks up its 27th win of the season (27-5) and advances to the semifinals to face the winner of No. 11 seed Southern Miss (13-20) and No. 3 seed UAB (22-8) match. Rice ends its season at 13-17. "On paper UAB should win but in C-USA it can be anyone's night," Kritza said. "Whoever wins we'll have to raise our level of play to win (the next match)." MATCH FOUR: MEMPHIS 3, UCF 1 Outside hitter Ashley Liford had an All-America day for the Tigers as the senior landed an opening day best 31 kills and had 21 digs. That was Liford's 18th double-double of the year. She was assisted by Sarah Bury's 14 kills and 13 digs, which marked her 13th double-double of the season. Freshman libero Christine Bach contributed 18 digs. The Knights had three players with 10-or-more digs. Sophomore outside Erin Campbell topped the club with 16, followed by senior libero Cassie Ramaekers' 14 and sophomore setter Andrea Youngblood chipped in 10. Offensively, UCF was led by junior outside hitter Stephanie Serna who had 13 kills. Memphis hit .254 for the match, as opposed to UCF's .091. Each team had 10 blocks. The Tigers recorded 75 digs, to the Golden Knights 62. UCF ends its season at 9-23, while the Tigers (23-11) advance to face No. 4 seed Tulsa (24-8) in the final game of the quarterfinals Friday. "I'm really proud of the girls," said Memphis head coach Carrie Yerty. "We started off a little hesitant but as the game progress we did a better job. I'm proud of our effort and now we have to start preparing for a tough match against Tulsa tomorrow."
MATCH THREE: EAST CAROLINA 3, SMU 0 "We played a lot better tonight than we have in the last few matches," said ECU head coach Chris Rushing. "Kelley Wernert was on fire, she played like the first team all-conference player that she is and got the job done. Our whole team contributed in a way that we haven't seen as of late." Wernert, a two-time All-C-USA first team selection also had nine digs, while teammate Trish Monroe, a junior libero, produced a match-high 21 digs. Freshman setter Katie Koop was credited with 46 assists and nine digs. "We went out and knew what we had to do" said Wernert."We're so excited to overcome last year (first round loss in C-USA Championship) and are really pumped up. Hopefully we can take this momentum into the Marshall match." SMU freshman outside hitter Kathryn Wilkerson led the Ponies with team-best of 12 kills and 15 digs for her 19th double-doubles of the season. Sophomore Kendra Kahanek and junior Natalie Peters each chipped in 10 kills, while Madison Hill and Stefanie Kons dished out 18 assists apiece. As a team, ECU hit .277 to SMU's .233, and had 73 digs to the Mustangs 63. East Carolina (16-16) advances to face top seed and host Marshall at 5 p.m. on Friday. SMU ends its season at 16-15. "Anybody can beat anybody on any given night, we just have to put it together as a whole, Rushing said. "(Marshall) is a big, strong, ball-control team. I hope we come out ready to play our hearts out because that is what it will take to win." "We thrive on competition," replied Wernert. "They're (C-USA) title is well-deserved, but we'll be ready to take it to them."
MATCH TWO: SOUTHERN MISS 3, HOUSTON 1 Three Golden Eagles had double-doubles in the upset win Southern Miss had a well-balanced attack as three players produced double-doubles in the win. Senior middle hitter Morgan Johnson landed a match-best 17 kills and added 11 digs for her fifth double-double of the season, while teammate Angela Hlavaty had 10 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double of the year. "It was one of the greatest wins of my career at Southern Miss and (being a senior) I am not ready to be done with volleyball," said Johnson. "We played together today and every huddle we had out there was about coming together and playing as one. We had great chemistry out there that helped us win." Freshman setter Katie Matlock dished out 41 assists and had 12 digs, resulting in her second double-double performance. "It was a great win for us," said head coach Ricci Luyties. "We have really been fighting hard at the end of matches lately rather than easily giving up points. We hung in mentally and never got down. We're giving ourselves a chance at the end. "We got a little lucky also. (Houston's) best player hit some balls out that she usually puts in there." Freshman middle hitter Lucy Charuk led Houston with 15 kills, followed by junior outside hitter Justine Farmer's 14. Farmer leads the nation in kills per game with an average of 5.58. Sophomore middle blocker Erin Rice chipped in 11 kills for the Cougars. Houston also had five players in double digit digs, including a match-best 16 by freshman libero Amanda Carson. Houston out dug the Eagles, 75-67, and posted 12.5 blocks to USM's 11.0. Houston ends its season at 13-15, while Southern Miss improves to 13-20. The Golden Eagles advance to face No. 3 seed UAB Friday at 2 p.m. "We're excited to play UAB in this tournament because we think we match up very well against them," Johnson said. "We played them twice this year and both matches went to five games, we lost both but I think it's our time to take the win." "We've had close matches with them," said Coach Luyties. "All the players they put on the court are good with very little weaknesses. We'll have to play near our best, not just against UAB, against all the teams in the tournament to win."
MATCH 1: RICE 3, UTEP 0 The 2007 C-USA Volleyball Championship action got underway Thursday morning as No. 7 seed Rice eliminated No. 10 seed UTEP in straight games, 30-27, 30-17, 30-20. The four-day tournament is being hosted by Marshall University inside the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, W.Va. Defense was strong for the Owls as five players had 10-or-more digs. Freshman libero Tracey Lam's hustled for a match-high 16, followed by sophomore Jennifer McClean's 12 and junior Jessica Holderness had 11. Senior Kristina Dennemann and freshman setter Meredith Schamun each had 10. Schamun also dished out 31 assists for her 10th double-double of the season. Holderness picked up her 15th double-double of the season with 10 kills to go along with her 11 digs. She wrapped up the match with a solid .429 hitting (10K, 1E, 21TA). "It was great to see us go out in the first match and win in three (games)," said McClean."To get those first match jitters out of the way and execute as effectively as we did was nice." "It was a great overall team effort," said Rice head coach Genny Volpe. "Our level of play didn't drop off at all from game one until the end of the match." The Miners were paced by Aidan Mooney and Christie Murphy who each had seven kills, while Amy Sanders chipped in six. Murphy hit a .571 clip with four kills on seven attempts and zero errors. Rice improves its overall record to 13-16, while UTEP concludes its season at 9-20. The Owls will face No. 2 seed Tulane (26-5) at Noon on Friday. The Owls are 0-2 against the Green Wave this season, but forced a fifth-game match on Nov. 2 in New Orleans. "We're excited to play Tulane; it's always a good matchup, said Volpe. "They are an extremely strong on the offensive side and we're extremely strong on the defensive side, so it should be a good matchup. "We always play each other very competitively," said McClean. "It's awesome to see them one more time (this season) especially after they beat us twice this year." |
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