University of Houston
Rice
Volleyball Falls to Rice, 3-0, In C-USA Opener
9/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2010
HOUSTON - The University of Houston volleyball team snapped its five-match win streak and dropped its Conference USA opener Tuesday night, falling to cross-town rival Rice 3-0 (23-25, 20-25, 21-25) at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
With the loss, Houston falls to 6-7 on the season and 0-1 in league action.
Leading the Cougars against the Owls with nine kills was Lucy Charuk. Chandace Tryon added eight kills while Amanda Carson had a team-high 23 digs.
After scoring the first two points of the opening set, Houston allowed the visitors to score the next three points to take their first lead, 3-2. An Owl service error would then tie the score at 3-3 and shortly after Rice would take an 8-4 lead. Despite falling behind, the Cougars played tough and slowly chipped away at the deficit, knotting the score 9-9. The two teams would go on to trade points before Rice would take a18-16 lead, forcing a UH timeout.
Out of the break Houston would score the first point and continue to trade scores with the Owls. Unfortunately, the Cougars could not hold off their opponent, trailing 24-22, into a second UH timeout. For the second time in the set, UH scored the first point but Rice answered to take the set, 25-23.
Rice would continue to control the pace of the game, jumping out to a 6-3 lead in the second set. The tide would turn, however, as the Cougars would battle back to eventually take an 8-7 lead. That would be all the lead Houston would be able to put together as Rice would pull away 23-16. Head coach Molly Alvey called a timeout to gather her team but the deficit would be two much to overcome and the Cougars would fall, 25-20.
In the third set, Houston jumped out to a 12-8 lead prompting a timeout from the Rice bench. The Owls came storming off the bench to go on a 7-0 run to pull ahead 15-12. To end the run, Houston called the second timeout of the set and they would come back to score the first two points out of the break. Despite going on to tie the score, 17-17, Houston would not be able to force a fourth set, falling to Rice 25-21.
UP NEXT
Houston will continue conference action when they travel to New Orleans for two matches against Tulane on Sept. 25-26. Both matches are slated to start at 1 p.m.
