TULSA, Okla. – The HBU volleyball team dropped a pair of 3-1 decisions on Saturday, falling to host Tulsa (11-25, 25-21, 22-25, 20-25) and Oral Roberts (25-21, 20-25, 22-25, 2225) to close the Golden Hurricane Invitational inside Donald W. Reynolds Center.
The Huskies (7-7) were led by sophomore outside hitter
Bailey Banks, who turned in two double-double performances on the day and her second and third of the tournament (third and fourth overall). The native of Missouri City, Texas, collected 11 digs and 11 kills against the Golden Hurricane (5-6) and followed with 13 digs an 11 kills against the Golden Eagles (6-7).
Junior outside hitter
Jessica Wooten and sophomore libero
Hailey Erickson captained the back line against Tulsa, registering 15 digs apiece. The 15 digs were a career-high for Erickson, while Wooten also added eight kills.
Sophomore middle blocker
Blair Gillard turned in an eight-kill, seven-block performance, as HBU finished with 10 total as a team.
After Tulsa took a 25-11 victory in the opening set, the Huskies turned in a match-high .438 attack percentage, getting four kills from Wooten and three apiece from sophomore outside hitter
Laura Fox, Banks and Gillard, to take set two, 25-21, and even the match, 1-1, heading into the break.
Tulsa's Erica Bohannon responded with eight kills to reclaim the advantage in the third set, 25-22, before the Golden Hurricane held HBU to a 0.56 clip in the fourth set to seal the match with a 25-20 victory.
Against Oral Roberts, junior setter
Kayla Armer and Wooten joined Banks in the double-double club. Armer recorded 37 assists and 11 digs, while Wooten finished with 15 kills and 10 blocks. The double-double is the fourth of the season for Armer and team-leading seventh for Wooten.
The Huskies turned in a match-high .256 clip to take the opening set, 25-21. However, Golden Eagle workhorse Laura Milos turned in 26 of her 29 kills across the final three sets to end the match, 3-1.
HBU will be back in action Thursday, Sept. 24, hosting New Orleans at 7 p.m. to open Southland Conference play.
