University of Houston
25-7,15-5AAC
UCF
26-6,19-1AAC
Heartbreaking Loss in 5 Sets Ends 2021
11/26/2021 9:39:00 PM | Volleyball
Two set advantage disappears as Knights comeback in season finale
HOUSTON − After going up two sets in the match, the Houston volleyball team dropped the last three sets in a loss to UCF in the final match of the regular season Friday night (25-18, 25-23, 19-25, 8-25, 8-15).
The Cougars finished the season 25-7 overall with a 15-5 record in the American Athletic Conference. The team finished with 25 wins or more for just the fourth time in NCAA program history and finished second in the AACÂ for the first time ever (finished 2nd in West Division in 2019 and 1st in West Division in 2021 Spring).
Senior Torie Frederick notched her 1,000th career dig in the match with her fourth dig of the night. The Manvel, Texas native tied her season-high with 15 digs in the match, second-most on the team.Â
Sophomore Kate Georgiades led the match with 27 digs. Offensively, Houston was outstanding in the first two sets, hitting .222 in the first and .212 in the second. The Cougars held the Knights to a .103 attacking percentage in the first set as well.
The Cougars jumped to an early 4-0 start in the first set before the Knights responded with their own 4-0 run. Shortly after exchanging points, a second 4-0 run helped UCF hit double-digits first at 10-9. A 10-3 run by the Cougars forced the Knights to call timeout as Houston regained the lead at 19-13. The Knights fought back to stay in the set, but the Cougars were too much as they took the first set 25-18 to go up one set to none. Jackson led the set with seven kills that contributed to a .341Â kill percentage and a .222 attacking percentage.
The second set was full of runs by both teams, starting off with a quick 3-0 Houston lead. The early lead quickly vanished after UCF rode a 10-3 run to go up 10-6. The Cougars responded with a 6-1 run to lead 12-11 and force a Knights timeout. After the break, UCF followed up with a 4-1 run and forced Houston to call a timeout at 15-13. Coming out of the timeout, the Cougars lit a spark and jumped on a 10-5 run to lead 23-20. UCF closed in on the lead before Houston capitalized on a Knights service error and a block by junior middle blocker Rachel Tullos to win the second set 25-23.
UCF turned things around in the third set as it jumped out to an early 8-1 run before extending it to 17-5 at the second Houston timeout. The Cougars fought back in the set with a 8-3 run to cut the deficit to 20-13. Pulling away to eight set points, UCF held off a Houston comeback bid to close out the set 25-19.Â
The Knights carried over their momentum to start the fourth set as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead at the first timeout. A dominant 17-6 run won UCF the fourth set 25-8 to even the match at two sets each.
In the fifth set, UCF maintained its form from the last two sets as it jumped out to a 9-1 start to force a Houston timeout. A late comeback push to win the set fell short for the Cougars as UCF completed the comeback to win the set 15-8.
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