Nov. 8, 2011

TULSA, Okla. - The Tulsa volleyball team has a chance to clinch the Conference USA championship outright when it travels to Houston this weekend for a pair of Conference USA rivalry matches against Rice and Houston.

C-USA VOLLEYBALL NOTEBOOK & STATISTICS

The first-place Golden Hurricane (23-5, 14-1 C-USA), with a four-match lead in the standings, can clinch the C-USA title with two wins over teams that are tied for second in the league. TU plays the Owls (15-11, 10-5 C-USA) at 7 p.m. Friday at Tudor Fieldhouse and the Cougars (17-8, 10-5 C-USA) at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Athletics/Alumni Center. Live stats via Gametracker and live video via Hurricane Vision will be available for both matches at www.TulsaHurricane.com.

Tulsa is hitting .263 as a team (1440-496-3590) with 1,440 kills (14.85 k/s), 1,350 assists (13.92 a/s), 136 service aces (1.40 sa/s), 1,575 digs (16.24 dig/s) and 139.0 blocks (1.43 blk/s). Hurricane opponents are hitting .185 (1135-503-3411) with 1,135 kills (11.70 k/s), 1,075 assists (11.08 a/s), 70 aces (0.72 sa/s), 1,451 digs (14.96 dig/s), and 196.5 total blocks (2.03 blk/s).

Tulsa is led on the outside by junior Tyler Henderson, who has 473 kills (4.88 kills per set), a .354 attack percentage and 500.0 points for the Hurricane. Junior Diana Silva has 285 kills (3.24 k/s), 22 aces and 290 digs (3.30 dig/s). Sophomore Kellie Culbertson has 231 kills (2.41 dig/s), 24 aces and 306 digs (3.19 dig/s). Senior Kelsey Hancock has 168 kills (1.75 k/s) for TU.

Freshman middle blocker Carly Boatwright has 141 kills, 20 aces and 71.0 blocks. Sophomore Miriele Gobbo has 58.0 blocks and 93 kills. Junior libero Jessica Adams leads Tulsa with 475 digs (4.90 dig/s) and has 26 service aces. Junior setter Jordan Clampitt has 796 assists (8.38 a/s) and 176 digs (1.85 dig/s). Freshman Bailey Clampitt has 411 assists (5.41 a/s) and 99 digs (1.30 dig/s).

UPCOMING MATCHES
Fri., Nov. 11
Marshall at UCF 6 p.m.
SMU at Houston 7 p.m.
Southern Miss at UAB 7 p.m.
Tulane at Memphis 7 p.m.
Tulsa at Rice 7 p.m.
East Carolina at UTEP 8 p.m.

Sat., Nov. 12
Southern Miss at Memphis 7 p.m.

Sun., Nov. 13
East Carolina at UCF 12 p.m.
Tulane at UAB 1 p.m.
Tulsa at Houston 1 p.m.
Marshall at UTEP 1 p.m.
SMU at Rice 2 p.m.

Rice hits .236 as a team (1328-485-3574) with 1,328 kills (13.69 k/s), 1,251 assists (12.90 a/s), 76 service aces (0.78 sa/s), 1,601 digs (16.51 dig/s) and 223.0 blocks (2.30 blk/s). The Owls' opponents are hitting .203 (1295-538-3723) with 1,295 kills (13.35 k/s), 1,220 assists (12.58 a/s), 120 aces (1.24 sa/s), 1,525 digs (15.72 dig/s), and 197.0 total blocks (2.03 blk/s).

Houston hits .247 as a team (1321-486-3382) with 1,321 kills (13.34 k/s), 1,216 assists (12.28 a/s), 101 service aces (1.02 sa/s), 1,418 digs (14.32 dig/s) and 233.0 blocks (2.35 blk/s). The Cougars' opponents are hitting .206 (1260-538-3499) with 1,260 kills (12.73 k/s), 1,162 assists (11.74 a/s), 115 aces (1.16 sa/s), 1,389 digs (14.03 dig/s), and 165.0 total blocks (1.67 blk/s).

Tulsa and Rice have played 34 times. Rice leads the series, 20-14. The Golden Hurricane has won four of the last six meetings and is 12-2 against the Owls since 2005. TU is 6-1 at Rice since 2005.

Tulsa and Houston have played 14 times. Tulsa leads the series, 8-6. The Golden Hurricane has won five straight matches in the series, which dates to 2005 when TU joined C-USA. Houston won four straight prior to Tulsa's run, and the schools split the season series from 2005-07.

COBRA volleyball net