Cougars lose home game to Mustangs by 3-1: Volleyball News
The volleyball team of University of Houston, called the Cougars, failed to profit from the home advantage and dropped a key match to Mustangs on Friday, November 11. The Athletics/Alumni Centre in Houston University hosted the match, where the visiting
team ousted the hosts with a 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 25-18, 25-11) victory.
SMU’s Courtney Manning totalled 10 blocks and set a new season high record of 164 blocks. Last year, she compiled a total of 162 blocks. Kelli Becerra recorded a double-double by posting 20 assists and 16 digs in the match.
Lucy Charuk of the Cougars notched 13 kills and seven blocks, while Chandace Tryon registered 10 kills. Freshman Natalie Keck was good at reception and finished with a team-high 17 digs.
Set 1
Cougars had the competitive edge of playing at home and picked up an early lead at 4-1. In the meantime, the players from the opposite side settled down in their positions and responded with strong counter attacks. They did not allow Cougars to go far and
levelled the score at 5-5. Afterwards, SMU enjoyed great rhythm and took the score to 16-12. Despite making a good start in the opening set, Houston trailed behind and eventually gave the first set to SMU, 25-21.
Set 2
The loss of opening set put Houston on high alert. The home players regrouped and came up with strong offensive attack in the second set. They pushed the ball in gaps and corners, which helped them to take a lead over the SMU. The better combination of attack
and defence enabled UH to lead SMU at 11-7. Mustangs tried to catch up with Cougars and came really close at 16-15 but failed to secure second set. Cougars posted 25-17 on board and evened the match 1-1.
3rd
Success in second set restored the confidence of Houston and encouraged them to stick to the winning strategy. On the other hand, SMU tried to regain the control of operations and stormed Cougars’ half with ground breaking shots. Mustangs got better on the
score card but Houston battled back to tie the score 11-all. However, Mustangs quickly regained a 15-12 lead and pushed the hosts behind. SMU stretched the gap of points and extended its lead to 2-1 by winning third set.
4th
UH was in full try to create the tie in fourth set but SMU had planned something different. They showed no mercy to the hosts and hit the ball from all angles. They converted the 12-7 lead into 19-10 and made it quite difficult for UH to return in the game.
Mustangs closed off fourth set with 6-1 run and pulled off success, 25-11.
"We weren't 100 percent in rhythm tonight. We made a lot of errors tonight; a lot more than we normally make. Our game plan going in was just to keep the ball in play. That's one thing we did not do wrong. At times we served extremely well, but we made too
many errors tonight." said Houston’s mentor Molly Alvey.
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