Tournament Live Stats | Live Stream – HBU at Tulsa ($)
TULSA, Okla. – The HBU volleyball team will close their non-conference tournament schedule, participating in the Golden Hurricane Invitational at Tulsa on Friday and Saturday.
The Huskies (7-4) will play North Texas in a 6 p.m. match on Friday inside Donald W. Reynolds Center, before seeing host Tulsa (11 a.m.) and brief former Southland Conference foe Oral Roberts (5 p.m.) on Saturday. HBU last faced the Golden Eagles in 2013, with the Huskies claiming a 3-1 victory in the SLC Tournament.
HBU is coming off a 2-1 showing in the Jaguar Classic at South Alabama across September 11-12. The Huskies, after falling 3-2 to the host Jaguars, defeated Samford (3-2) and McNeese State (3-1) to finish as the tournament runner-up. For their efforts, HBU's setter
Kayla Armer and outside hitter
Jessica Wooten were named to the all-tournament team. Armer registered over 40-plus assists in all three matches, including a season-high 45 against Samford, while Wooten turned in two double-doubles and recorded three double-figure kill performances. Wooten also turned in a double-double against Prairie View A&M on Tuesday, Sept. 8, and was named the SLC Offensive Player of the Week, totaling 51 kills (3.00 per set) and 53 digs (3.12 per set) across 17 sets.
Overall, Wooten leads the Huskies with 3.20 kills per set, followed by fellow outside hitters
Bailey Banks and
Melissa Fuchs, who are averaging 2.34 and 2.06 kills per set, respectfully. Armer also continues to be a steady presence for the offense, averaging 9.63 assists per set.
Defensively, Wooten (2.88) and sophomore
Hailey Erickson (2.37) anchor the back line, averaging over two digs per set. Sophomore
Blair Gillard (38) and Doerpinghaus (34) control the defensive presence at the net, each with over 30 blocks on the season.
UNT, 6-6 overall, enters Friday already with three wins over the Southland, having defeated Central Arkansas (3-2), Abilene Christian (3-2) and Stephen F. Austin (3-0). Senior outside hitter Carnae Dillard leads UNT in kills (5.00 per set) and digs (2.62 per set), while middle blockers Amanda Chamberlain (38) and Holly Milam (34) top the team in blocks.
Tulsa enters their host tournament at 3-6 overall, looking to snap a four-match skid. The Golden Hurricane lost all three matches of the Hurricane Classic, dropping decisions to SFA (3-2), Arkansas State (3-0) and Southern Illinois (3-1) last weekend. Junior outside hitter Erica Bohannon leads Tulsa in kills, averaging 3.53 per set. Junior libero Brooke Berryhill captains the defense with 4.50 kills per set, while senior middle blocker Ashley Hooper holds the team mark with 34 blocks.
ORU, like the Mean Green, come into the tournament with a .500 record, sitting at 5-5 after dropping its last two matches. Sophomore outside hitter Laura Milos leads the Golden Eagles with 4.86 kills per set, while freshman libero Tori Roe anchors the defense with 3.00 digs per set. Middle blockers Shelby Cox and Jovana Poljasevic share the team lead with 28 blocks apiece.
Following the Golden Hurricane Invitational, HBU returns home to Sharp Gym for two matches to open Southland play. The Huskies host New Orleans on Thursday, Sept. 24, before facing Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday, Sept. 26.
