Houston Keeps Perfect Season Alive

LAFAYETTE, La. -- The University of Houston Volleyball team kept its undefeated season in tact on Friday as the Cougars opened up the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic with a pair of wins over Nicholls (1-4) and Sam Houston State (3-2). While the Cougars took down the Colonels in straight sets (25-13, 25-20, 25-16), it took all five frames (13-25, 25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 15-13) for the Cougars to defeat the Bearkats.

GAME 1: HOUSTON 3, NICHOLLS 0

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 –
Houston's high-octane offense flexed its muscle early to jump out to a three-point, 7-4, lead through the first 11 points of the match. As the Cougars stretched their lead to 19-11, senior middle blocker Chenelle Walker and junior outside hitter Megan Duncan led the way with three kills each. The Cougars showed off their conference-leading .277 hitting percentage in the opening frame, having posted a .345 clip in route to the 25-13 set victory.

Set 2 –
After a slow start to begin the set and finding itself trailing by as many as six midway through the frame, Houston managed to score 16 of the final 21 points to complete the comeback and win the set 25-20 to go up 2-0 at the intermission. During that run, freshman middle blocker Kendall Haywood played a crucial role, tallying 3.5 points, including back-to-back aces that pushed Houston's lead to five, which was its largest of the set.

Set 3 –
The Cougars wasted no time to seal the deal in the final set, opening the frame scoring 10 of the first 11 points to go up by nine. That stretch saw four different Cougars contribute to the lead, with sophomore outside hitter Gabi Zelaya responsible for a pair of points. As Houston closed in on its 15^th set win of the season, Duncan recorded the Cougars' first double-double of the year with her 10^th kill of the match that extended the lead to 10. Houston went on to win the set 25-16 and claimed victory to its fifth-straight win to begin the 2018 campaign.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Junior outside hitter Megan Duncan collected Houston's first double-double of the season, finishing the match with match-highs in kills (11) and digs (10).
Senior setter Katie Krebs tied a match-high with 19 assists. Krebs and sophomore setter Abby Irvine were responsible for 32 of the team's 37 assists.
Senior middle blocker Chenelle Walker posted her highest hitting percentage of the season with her .625 clip, which was also a team-best.
As a team, Houston eclipsed the .300 hitting mark for the second time this year.
In the first set, the Cougars strung together five separate 3-0 rallies.
The 1:14 game, time was the Cougars' shortest match of the season.

GAME 2: HOUSTON 3, SAM HOUSTON STATE 2

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 –
For what seemed like the first time this season, Houston's offense was halted in the first set against the Bearkats, hitting just .083 in the first frame. The 12-point loss the Cougars suffered was Houston's largest margin of defeat in a set this season. Sam Houston State jumped out to an early six-point lead, which proved to be a deficit too much to overcome as the Bearkats won the opening set 25-13.

Set 2 –
The Cougars wasted no time fighting their way back into the match, jumping out to a 6-3 lead to start the set and forcing SHSU to call its first timeout of the match. Though the Bearkats climbed back to tie the score, the two squads never backed down from one another as the second set alone saw seven ties and four lead changes. Once Houston broke free from the 18-18 tie, the Cougars never looked back from that point and held on to win the frame 25-22 and tied the score 1-1 at intermission.

Set 3 –
In another seesaw battle of a set, Houston held off SHSU to win the frame 25-22. After the Cougars went up by three, the Bearkats rallied off three-straight points of their own to tie the score for the 10^th time in the frame at 20-20. Following a timeout from Houston, the Cougars responded with four unanswered points to claim a four-point advantage, but Sam Houston State fought to find themselves back within two points. With just a two-point lead, freshman Kendall Haywood and her classmate Jordan Lockwood ended the set with a monstrous block at the net to seal the three-point set victory for the Cougars.

Set 4 –
Despite finding itself up for most the set, Houston was unable to hold on to its advantage as Sam Houston State forced a fifth set with its 25-22 victory in the fourth frame. The Cougars wasted no time to jump out to their lead, claiming an early seven-point advantage thanks to Duncan's 10^th kill of the match. Though the Bearkats narrowed the Cougars' lead, Houston maintained a steady advantage all the way through the end of the set, as the two teams found themselves tangled in a 20-20 tie. From there, SHSU finished out the frame on a 5-2 run to force Houston's second five-set match of the season.

Set 5 –
Following a four-point deficit to start the final frame, Houston went on a 6-2 run that was capped off with a huge block from senior Chenelle Walker that tied the game at nine. The back-and-forth action from both teams continued, with multiple ties and lead changes occurring before the Cougars scored the final two points of the match, which included an exclamation point from Duncan, as her service ace sealed the 15-13 set win and 3-2 match victory for Houston.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Junior outside hitter Megan Duncan finished the match with 11 kills and 18 digs, marking her second consecutive double-double. Her 18 digs are a career-high.
Three Cougars surpassed the 10-kill mark in the same match for the first time this season. Junior outside hitter Faith Squier tallied a team-high 12 kills, while Duncan and freshman middle blocker Kendall Haywood each finished with 11. Squier's mark is a season-high and Haywood's is a career-high.
Junior libero Katie Karbo dug out a season-high 24 balls and has now led Houston in digs in four of its six games.
The setting duo of senior Katie Krebs and sophomore Abby Irvine each eclipsed the 25-assist mark for the first time in 2018.
The 1-1 tie at intermission marked the first time this season Houston was not leading after the first two sets.
The five-set match saw a total of 26 ties and 10 lead changes.

UP NEXT
Houston concludes its time at the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic on Saturday, Sept. 1 as the Cougars will square up against Mississippi Valley State at 10 a.m. before wrapping up the weekend with a match against tournament host Louisiana at 4 p.m.

The Cougars are back inside the Athletics/Alumni Center from Sept. 7 – Sept. 8 as Houston hosts the annual Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup tournament.

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.

– UHCougars.com –

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Team Stats

Megan Duncan

Gabi Zelaya

Chenelle Walker

Kendall Haywood

Players Mentioned

Megan Duncan

Kendall Haywood

Abby Irvine

Katie Karbo

Katie Krebs

Jordan Lockwood

Faith Squier

Chenelle Walker

Gabi Zelaya

Players Mentioned

Megan Duncan

Kendall Haywood

Abby Irvine

Katie Karbo

Katie Krebs

Jordan Lockwood

Faith Squier

Chenelle Walker

Gabi Zelaya

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