Box Score

Nov. 17, 2006

HOUSTON, Texas - In the first match of day two at the 2006 Conference USA Volleyball Championship in Hofheinz Pavilion, No. 1 Tulsa downed No. 8 SMU 3-0. The Golden Hurricane has won five matches in a row and improved to 27-6 on the season with the win. TU had three players register double-digit kills.

Kassiana Urnau led her team with 11 kills and a team-high 11 digs for her 21st double-double of the season. Teammate Amy Meyer also tallied 11 kills and hit .476 for the match. 2006 C-USA Setter of the Year Julia Silva led the Golden Hurricane with 28 assists and added 10 kills, four digs and three blocks. Silva hit .444 for the match. Germana Hilario was also strong with seven kills and six aces.

The Mustangs were led by Natalie Peters' eight kills and two blocks. Rachel Giubilato tallied 10 digs and seven kills, while Kendra Kahanek hit .400 with seven kills, two blocks and a dig. Madison Hill had 21 assists and Candice Davis notched a game-high 14 digs.

Tulsa head coach Ed Allen said his team showed a solid defensive effort in its opening match of the championship.

"I really felt it was one of our better defensive efforts of the year," Allen said. "We touched a lot of balls at the net in order to transition them back. Those that we didn't get touch on, our back row did a terrific job of reading. We are not looking at tomorrow as a semifinal match, but just as another match we have to prepare for. We are looking forward to it."

Tulsa advances to Saturday's first semifinal at 6 p.m. and will face the winner of the Tulane/UAB match. SMU ends its regular season at 17-15, the third-most wins in program history.