Friday, Feb. 26

Wichita State 3, SMU 1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19)	Box Score
Tulsa 3, Memphis 0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-19)	Box Score
Temple 3, Delaware 2 (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 21-25, 15-8	Box Score
Florida State 3, No. RV UCF 2 (25-22, 27-25, 11-25, 21-25, 6-15	Box Score
Texas Tech 3, Houston 2 (21-25, 18-25, 25-16, 28-26, 10-15	Box Score

Wichita State 3, SMU 1

Megan Taflinger posted a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs, and Brooke Smith added a career-high nine block assists to lift the Wichita State volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over American Athletic Conference West Division preseason favorite SMU Friday, Feb. 26, at Charles Koch Arena in the annual Pink Match for breast cancer awareness. The set scores were 22-25, 25-18, 25-19 and 25-19.

With the win, Wichita State improves to 8-0 on the season and 3-0 in conference action. The eight-match winning streak marks the longest since WSU won 10-straight in 2013.

Senior Emma Wright tallied a career-high four service aces and also had five block assists, while redshirt sophomore Brylee Kelly tied her career-high with eight block assists, and sophomore Sinalauli'i Uluave had a match-high 21 digs. Senior McKayla Wuensch chipped-in with a team-high 25 assists, respectively.

The Shockers outhit the Mustangs (4-3, 0-3 American) in the match, .224 to .107, and bested SMU in kills (50-46), assists (50-38), aces (8-6), digs (67-62) and blocks (14-10).

Hannah Jacobs had 12 kills, and Lily Heim added 33 assists and a pair of service aces, pacing SMU in the contest.

Tulsa 3, Memphis 0

The Golden Hurricane dominate the Tigers in three straight sets to sweep Memphis 3-0 on Friday afternoon in the Larry O. Finch Center.

Three Hurricane players had double-digit kills in the match, led by junior Callie Cook's 13 kills on 24 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. The middle also recorded 3 digs, 2 blocks and an assist.

Kayley Cassaday had 12 kills for TU on 37 attempts and a .243 hitting percentage, while adding 5 digs and a solo block on the day. For the second game in a row, Kylie Trefflich recorded double-digit kills putting in 10 on 25 attempts for a .360 hitting percentage.

"I am extremely proud of how the team responded to last weekend against Wichita State. When the lights came back on this weekend, they did their jobs and got better through the process," said head coach Ryan Wills, "Our offense was efficient throughout the series, and we executed defensive adjustments today that were key to slowing down Memphis' middle attack."

Lauren Isenberg had a career-high 21 digs, adding 6 kills and 2 blocks during the match. Roosa Rautio had her third double-double of the season with a team-high 41 assists and 10 digs.

The Hurricane moves to 2-2 on the season, winning its second straight contest, as Memphis falls to 3-5 and 0-4 in American Athletic Conference play.

Senior Maggie Hembree played well for the Hurricane securing 9 kills on 16 attacks; she put in a team-high 6 kills for Tulsa in the first set.

In the first set, Tulsa fell behind 10-7 to the Tigers, before using a 12-3 run to take a commanding 19-13 advantage. Hembree and Trefflich combine for 5 kills during the Hurricane run. Back-to-back service aces by Isenberg, secured the 25-19 first set victory for Tulsa.

The Hurricane and the Tigers each had 127 attacks in the match, but Tulsa recorded 51 kills compared to Memphis' 33. TU also was more efficient than the Tigers recording only 10 attack errors compared to Memphis' 15.

TU used a hot start in the second period to grab an 8-1 lead, led by 4 kills from Kayley Cassaday. The Hurricane did not relinquish the lead, extending to its biggest advantage of the match at 23-12 on a kill by Cook. Isenberg closed out the set with a kill to give the Hurricane a 25-16 set win.

Tulsa led Memphis statistically in hitting percentage (.323-.142), sets (50-32), aces (3-2) and digs (69-58).

The Hurricane and Tigers exchanged blows in the third set as the two teams sat tied at 14 all. After a timeout by the Tigers, the Hurricane went on a 5-0 run to take a 19-14 lead. Tulsa outscored Memphis 6-5 to end the game, as Rautio and Hembree put an exclamation point on the match with a block.

Temple 3, Delaware 2

The Temple volleyball team came out on top of a five-set marathon in the I-95 corridor battle, as the Owls topped visiting Delaware, 3-2. Temple won the first two sets but  needed to go five to grab the win, 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 21-25, 15-8. The victory improves the Owls to 6-3 overall, while Delaware evens its record at 1-1.

How it Happened
> Two evenly matched teams battled through five sets, which included 37 ties and 14 lead changes.
> Though the Owls got off to a slow start in each of the first two sets, the Cherry & White got key points down the stretch to go up 2-0 in the match.
> Delaware battled back with equally as tight wins in the third and fourth sets, tying the match at 2-2.
> Temple turned up the offense in the fifth, hitting .412 without recording an error to take it 15-8, and the match, 3-2.
> The Owls hit .268, holding Delaware to a .210 attack, including just .043 in the deciding fifth set.
> Both teams played excellent defense, but it was Temple's high-powered block that gave them an edge, as the Owls won the battle at the net, 10-4.

Individual Highlights
> Senior Katerina Papazoglou led Temple's offense with a season-best 17 kills, adding 14 digs for a double-double. She matched her career-best performance with 14 blocks.
> Sophomore Kayla Spells tallied a career-high 13 kills from the middle.
> Freshman Taylor Davenport also had a banner day, notching collegiate bests of 10 kills and eight blocks.
> Freshman Ilayda Dincer finished with 11 kills to round out the offense.
> Junior setter Tyler Lindgren dished out 41 assists, adding five kills, and eight digs with two blocks.
> Freshman Falanika Danielson again led all players, racking up a college-best 32 digs in the five-setter.
> Junior Xeryah Salanoa also had an outstanding game, with career highs of 17 digs and four blocks.

Set One: Temple 25, Delaware 23
> Temple trailed early in the first set, as Delaware jumped out to a 4-1 lead.
> The Owls took over and led 11-8 before a huge 9-0 run from the Blue Hens put them up 17-11.
> Temple stayed calm and tied the match at 18-18 and it was knotted as late as 22-22.
> The Owls were able to finish it out on a Davenport kill to put Temple up 1-0.

Set Two: Temple 25, Delaware 22
> Another slow start for Temple saw Delaware lead 12-8 midway through action.
> With Salanoa on the line, the Owls tied the match and crept ahead 15-13.
> Delaware battled back to tie, and again the set was tied late (20-20) before Temple pulled out the win to go up 2-0.

Set Three: Delaware 25, Temple 23
> Though set three was tight the whole way, Delaware led from start to finish to make it a 2-1 match.
> The Blue Hens early lead grew to seven (14-7) before Temple used a late run to cut it to 20-19.
> Delaware squashed any hopes of the Owls getting the sweep with a final kill to win it 25-23.

Set Four: Delaware 25, Temple 21
> The teams locked scores 12 times in the fourth set before Delaware pulled away late to force a fifth frame.
> Neither team led by more than two points until a 5-0 Blue Hen run put them up late, 22-17.
>Temple battled back, closing the gap and spoiling two set points for Delaware, but it was too little too late, as the visitors tied the match at 2-2 with a 25-21 win.

Set Five: Temple 15, Delaware 8
> Temple's offense shined in the fifth frame, hitting .412 to win the most lopsided set of the day.
> An ace from Danielson started the set, but Temple never trailed.
> The Owls had a slim 6-4 lead after 10 points before they began to pull away, using a 9-2 run to close out the set and the match.

Florida State 3, No. RV UCF 2

The Knights (8-1, 2-0) looked like they were going to make quick work of Florida State at their place Friday afternoon, but the Seminoles had other plans.

After taking the first two sets, 25-22 and 27-25, UCF would go on to lose the next three straight to fall to Florida State, 3-2. It was UCF's first loss of the season, moving the Knights to 8-1 on the year.

"I thought we really kept the pressure on Florida State in the first two sets," said head coach Todd Dagenais. "I give them a lot of credit for being resilient and not backing down. The third set, I thought we let up just enough, and they [Florida State] kicked it up about five notches. It was a five-game loss you would much rather have now in the middle of the season than at the end of the season that sends you home."

The first set was as close as they come. After falling behind 17-14 and calling a timeout, the Knights fought back to tie it at 18. Still tied at 21, Tali Marmen secured a clutch kill to give the Knights the lead and UCF would finish strong from there, scoring four out of the last five points to win the set, 25-22.

Set two started off just as close. Tied at 13, the Knights outpaced FSU 6-1 over the next seven points to take a solid 19-14 lead, but the Seminoles answered with a five-point run of their own to tie it at 19 and force coach Dagenais and the Knights to call time. The two sides continued to battle and were tied once more at 25 before McKenna Melville and Tali Marmen each recorded a kill to give the Knights the 27-25 set victory.

The Knights hit a wall and could not get anything going in the third set, losing 25-11 before putting up more of a fight in the fourth. UCF seemed to be much more in control of things in that fourth set, even taking a 20-19 lead into the later stages of the set, but the Knights just couldn't finish it off, dropping the set, 25-21 to send the match to the decisive fifth set.

"I thought we had our opportunities in the fourth set and we were in a great spot to win it, we just didn't have the mental toughness that Florida State showed. I hate to lose these because we felt like it's a match we could have won," said Dagenias. "Give Florida State credit for coming back and winning it. We feel like it's a match that we could have won too."

By the time the fifth set came around, Florida State had all the momentum. The Seminoles went up 8-3 in the first half of the set and held on, going on to win by a final score of 15-6 to win the match, 3-2.

Three different Knights turned in double-digit kills in McKenna Melville, Tali Marmen and MaKenzie Chambers. Marmen's 17 kills are her season-high, while Chambers' 10 are tied for her season-high as well. With 18 kills and 10 digs, Melville turned in her fourth straight double-double.

DAGENAIS DIALOUGE:
[On what he learned about the team]
"It was disappointing not to execute with the pressure really on us, but it's also a great learning experience for a lot of the players on our team about what it takes to be in the right mental frame of mind and execute when you have that pressure on you."

[On the positives]
"We didn't back down. That was a gigantic team, and they are incredibly physical, but we didn't back down from it. We took the fight to them for two sets. I thought they [Florida State] handled the pressure of the moment and being down much better than we handled the pressure of being up."