University of Houston
SMU
Volleyball Drops Exciting Contest To SMU
11/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
| HOUSTON - The University of Houston Volleyball battled back and forth with in-state rival SMU, but couldn't hold on as the Mustangs took the win in three straight (24-26, 18-25, 23-25) Sunday afternoon during the annual Coogs for the Cure: Dig Pink match.
Houston dropped to 11-12 on the season, 3-8 in American Athletic Conference play. SMU improved to 18-5, 7-4 in conference play.
All three sets were hard-fought battles between the two teams. In set one alone, the leading score changed five times while the score was tied nine times. The Cougars took a 17-15 lead, forcing a SMU timeout in the first set. From there the teams went point-for-point until SMU tied the set 23-23 after an attack error by Kadi Kullerkann. Houston used it final timeout to strategize, but two attack errors pushed SMU to a 26-24 victory.
In set two, four blocking errors plagued Houston and gave the Mustangs a 2-0 lead heading into the half.
Set three was another back and forth battle, but SMU came out on top with a 25-23 win to take the match.
With 20 digs against SMU Natalie Keck moves up to second in school history for career digs with 1,931 She is 69 away from her 2,000th career dig. Sunday's match marked the senior's 13th 20+dig match of the season.
Kadi Kullerkann led the Cougars with 15 kills, six digs and a block. Freshman Bryanna Lawrence followed with six kills, hitting .294, three digs and a block.
Middle blockers Kaiti Waters and Courtney Smith played a role in the Cougars offense against SMU. Collectively, the two hit .297 against the SMU front row, knocking nine kills on 24 attempts.
UP NEXT
Houston continues its home stretch as the Cougars host Tulane for a midweek match Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Cougars have a short weekend as they travel to Greenville, N.C., for a match against Wild Card East Carolina.
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