University of Houston
Tulsa
Volleyball Falls To Tulsa, 3-1
10/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 22, 2010
HOUSTON - The University of Houston volleyball team lost a tough fought battle against Conference USA leader Tulsa 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 16-25, 19-25) Friday night at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
Three Cougars had three players finish with double-digit kills against the Golden Hurricane. Lucy Charuk led the way with 13 kills, followed by Stephanie Nwachukwu with 12 and Chandace Tryon with 10.
Amanda Carson added 21 digs and Amber Brooks finished with 45 assists.
With the loss, Houston falls to 12-10 on the season and 6-4 in league action. Tulsa extends its win streak to 19 matches and improves to 20-2 and 10-0 in C-USA.
"We came out very prepared with the game plan that we set forth and we implemented and executed it," head coach Molly Alvey said. "We looked very strong and were very disciplined and it worked well for us."
After scoring the opening point of the match, Houston allowed the visitors to score the next three points and take a 3-1 lead. The Cougars were forced to play from behind for much of the set before knotting the score at 14-14. The teams traded points before Houston took a two-point lead, 20-18, while forcing the Golden Hurricane to call a timeout.
Out of the break, Houston added to their total and jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a 25-23 win in the first set.
In the second set, Tulsa came out strong, quickly scoring three points. Tulsa held the lead for most of the set until a kill by Charuk tied the game at 8-8. The Cougars would trade scores with the Golden Hurricane and after the fourth tie of the set the Cougars took their first lead 13-12. They would go on a three-point run forcing a Tulsa timeout. The Golden Hurricane came out of the timeout, scoring the next three points. A UH error prompted a timeout by Alvey and off the bench, Tulsa went on a 7-3 run, winning the set 25-22.
Out of the intermission, Tulsa took the momentum from a comeback win in the second set and opened to a 17-9 lead. Houston tried to respond and was able to come within nine at 23-14 but the deficit would be too much to overcome. The Golden Hurricane would earn the win, 25-16, and take a 2-1 lead into the fourth set.
The Cougars forced Tulsa into a fourth set for the first time since a 3-2 win over SMU on Oct. 6. Houston would look to use that to their advantage but the Golden Hurricane wouldn't let that happen. The visitors took an early lead and never looked back. Despite trailing for much of the set, Houston got within two, 20-18 before the deficit grew to five, 24-19. Kellie Culbertson capped the match with a kill on the next point and secured the win for Tulsa.
"Immediately we have to go into SMU mode, which is a completely different team and we have to prepare a totally different mindset," Alvey added. "Tomorrow morning we will practice and watch film and then we play them tomorrow night. We learned what didn't work and what did work tonight and now we have to move forward and prepare for SMU."
UP NEXT
Houston will be back on the court tomorrow against SMU. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the first 100 fans to Saturday's match will receive a pink t-shirt.
