#24 Volleyball’s Season Ends in NCAA Tournament Second Round

STANFORD, Calif. – The #24 (8) University of Houston Volleyball team overcame a 2-0 deficit and fought to the last point, taking #2 and No. 1 seed Stanford to five sets, but had its season come to an end in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.

The Cougars (19-10, 11-8 Big 12) hit above .300 in three of the five sets while also adding 11.0 blocks, all in the last three frames. Houston became just the fourth team to take Stanford (28-3, 19-1 Pac-12) to a fifth set this season.

Graduate Kenna Sauer led the Houston offense in the match, posting 24 kills for her 10^th career match with 20-or-more in the category. Senior Annie Cooke recorded her 25^th career double-double with 19 assists and 10 digs while senior Kate Georgiades tallied her 100^th career match with double-digit digs, earning a team-leading 12.

Graduate Abbie Jackson added 15 kills while graduate Rachel Tullos earned three service aces and recorded a team-best six blocks. With 45 attacks in the match, Jackson broke Houston's career attack attempts record and brought her career total to 5,859, surpassing Justine Farmer's 5,820 from 2005-08.

SET ONE
Houston and Stanford traded points early, remaining tied after 10 points, but a 5-0 run by the Cardinal gave Stanford a 9-5 lead that they never surrendered for the remainder of the set. A 6-0 run later in the frame further extended Stanford's lead and the Cardinal took the first set, 25-15.

SET TWO
The teams remained close for the beginning stages of the frame. While Stanford was able to earn the lead at 3-1, Houston fought to keep Stanford within striking distance at 10-9. The Cardinal rattled off a 4-0 stretch to create a bit of distance and led 15-10 at the media timeout. Houston shrunk its deficit back to two at 21-19, but Stanford closed the frame with a 3-0 run, winning 25-20.

SET THREE
Both squads again remained even early, evenly splitting the first 18 points before a 7-1 stretch for the Cougars opened a 15-10 lead. Another 6-1 run for Houston pushed its lead to 21-12. Stanford wouldn't go quietly, fighting back to get within two, but the Cougars won two of the last three points to take the set, 25-22.

SET FOUR
Facing a 10-8 shortcoming midway through the fourth, Houston answered with a 5-0 run to take the lead. The Cougars and Cardinal continued to trade points after the run, but Houston never surrendered the lead or let Stanford get closer than two to win the set, 25-22.

SET FIVE
Becoming just the third team to take a No. 1 seed to five in the First or Second Round since the restructuring of hosting rules in 2016, Houston split the first two points with Stanford to start the fifth. The Cardinal used a 3-0 run to take the lead and, while the Cougars were able to tie the frame at 5-5, a 6-0 stretch from Stanford gave the Cardinal room to win the set, 15-7.

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