Houston Begins Season with Doubleheader Sweep

Friday, August 24

New Orleans, La.

3 p.m. CT

University of Houston

1-0

Murray State

0-1

HOUSTON

Murray St.

Photo by: Maria Lysaker

8/24/2018 10:36:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Cougars open year with wins over Murray State and New Orleans

By: Ryan Levine

NEW ORLEANS -- The University of Houston Volleyball team opened up its 2018 season with a pair of victories on Saturday and is 2-0 on the year. In its season-opener, Houston took down Murray State (0-1) in straight sets (25-13, 25-18, 25-19), while the Cougars' victory against New Orleans (0-1) went the distance as Houston won 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 23-25, 15-11).

GAME 1: HOUSTON 3, MURRAY STATE 0

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 –
Houston came out of the locker room on fire, scoring five unanswered points to take an early 5-0 lead, as four different Cougars recorded kills during that stretch. The Cougars never looked back from that point as they never took their foot off the gas, having cruised their way to a season-opening set win by a score of 25-13. In the set, junior outside hitter Megan Duncan led all players with four kills and five digs.

Set 2 –
After a slow start to begin the set, Houston used a 5-1 run to surge its way to a one-point lead at 5-4. From the point when Murray State tied the score at 6-6, the two teams traded blows, having exchanged the lead three times before sophomore outside hitter Silvia Peterns put the Cougars back in the lead, 12-11. With the Racers still within striking distance, Houston ended the set on a 6-2 run, having scored the final four points to claim the 25-18 victory and hold a 2-0 lead heading into intermission.

Set 3 –
Much like the second, the third set saw both squads unable to pull away from the other, but back-to-back monster plays from freshman middle blocker Kendall Haywood, quickly gave Houston the momentum it needed. After her first kill of the set, she immediately followed that by recording a huge block that put the Cougars ahead by three, 7-4. From there, Houston went on an 8-3 run, which was cemented by a kill from Pertens, forcing Murray State to call its first timeout of the set. At that point forward, Houston never looked back as the 25-19 set victory sealed the season-opening win for the Cougars.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Junior outside hitter Megan Duncan and sophomore outside hitter Silvia Pertens led the Cougars with nine kills in the game.
Duncan also dug out a game-high 11 balls.
Sophomore setter Abby Irvine dished out a game-high 25 assists.
Houston retained its reputation as a strong serving team, collecting six aces in the match.
Every Cougar who recorded an attack also hammered home a kill.

GAME 2: HOUSTON 3, NEW ORLEANS 2

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 –
Houston began the match continuing its hot offensive start to the season, having recorded a .500 hitting percentage midway through the opening set. After the Cougars stretched their lead to four thanks to a kill from sophomore Gabi Zelaya, the Privateers were forced to call their first timeout of the game with Houston holding an 18-14 advantage. That timeout didn't stop the momentum the Cougars had, scoring three out of the next four points, in route to a 25-20 opening-set victory for Houston.

Set 2 –
With the two teams trading leads to start the set, the Cougars began to pull away when freshman Jordan Russell hammered home the first of her three kills in the set, which put Houston up 9-5. After New Orleans closed the gap to just one point at 17-16, both squads found themselves seesawing back and forth until the very end, when Houston scored the final three points of the set and claimed the 25-23 win.

Set 3 –
After the intermission, Houston found itself in a hole early on but that never stopped the Cougars from fighting back. Down 5-2 to start the set, Houston rallied to tie the score at six a piece, courtesy of a kill from freshman middle blocker Kendall Haywood. Following Duncan's 11^th kill of the match that gave the Cougars a three-point, 13-10, lead, the Privateers quickly recovered and took a one-point advantage at 16-15, having never looked back from that point as they won the their first set of the game, 25-20.

Set 4 –
Despite finding itself down by as many as 11 points, Houston showed its grit in the fourth set, sparking a monstrous 12-2 run that tied the score at 23, but the comeback effort ultimately fell short as New Orleans tied the match at 2-2, winning the set 25-23. During that 12-2 run, Duncan notched three kills, while senior setter Katie Krebs recorded a pair of aces.

Set 5 –
In the final set of the match, Houston wasted no time making its presence felt as a kill from junior outside hitter Faith Squier put the Cougars up 5-1. Having maintained its four-point lead throughout, Houston closed out the match winning the fifth set by a score of 15-11 to claim to 3-2 match victory over New Orleans.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Junior outside hitter Megan Duncan, sophomore setter Abby Irvine and junior libero Katie Karbo all tallied game-highs. Duncan recorded 22 kills, while Irvine gave out 32 assists and Karbo tallied 17 digs.
Duncan and sophomore outside hitter Gabi Zelaya became the first two Cougars of the season to reach the 10-kill mark in a game. Zelaya finished the contest with 13.
Both Irvine and senior setter Katie Krebs led the Cougars with two service aces in the match. Houston matched its total from earlier in the day with six aces.
Houston began the 2018 season in dominating fashion, winning its first five sets by a combined 32 points.

UP NEXT
Houston concludes its time at the UNO Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 25 as the Cougars will square up against Nebraska-Omaha, with aspirations to go a perfect 3-0 on the weekend.

The Cougars play their home opener against Prairie View A&M on Aug. 28.

STAY CONNECTED
Follow Houston Volleyball on Twitter and Instagram at @UHCougarVB, and "Like" UHCougarVB on Facebook.

JOIN POINT HOUSTON CLUB
Fans can help support the Houston Volleyball program by joining the Point HOUSTON Club. To find out more information about the Point HOUSTON Club, visit UHCougars.com or call Cougar Pride at (713) 743-GoUH.

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