Tulsa Volleyball Draws Oklahoma in NCAA First Round
Golden Hurricane plays Sooners on Friday in the Los Angeles USC regional
TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa will play Oklahoma at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Dec. 2, in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles.
The Conference USA Champion Golden Hurricane (27-6, 18-2 C-USA) will meet the Sooners (21-11, 8-8 Big 12) for the second straight season in the NCAA Tournament. OU eliminated TU in the second round last season in Norman.
Top-ranked and No. 7 national seed USC (25-4, 20-2 Pac 12) is the host school, and will face Ivy League Champion Yale (18-6, 12-2 Ivy League) in the opening round. The winners of the opening round matches will meet on Dec. 3 for the right to advance to the Honolulu Regional.
Tulsa won the Conference USA championship for the second straight year and is making its second NCAA Tournament appearance in a row. TU is led by C-USA Player of the Year Tyler Henderson and C-USA Libero of the Year Jessica Adams, as well as all-conference performers Diana Silva and Kellie Culberson. The Hurricane has won 21 of its last 23 matches heading into the postseason.
Seven of Tulsa’s 2011 opponents are among the 64-team field, including No. 3-seed Illinois and No. 12-seed Florida State. The Golden Hurricane has a 4-3 record against teams in the NCAA postseason, with wins over Albany, Middle Tennessee State, North Carolina and North Dakota State. Kentucky rounds out TU’s regular season opponents in the field.
