University of Houston
SMU
Volleyball Defeats SMU, 3-1
10/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 4, 2008
HOUSTON - The University of Houston volleyball team defeated SMU, 3-1, Saturday night at the Athletics/Alumni Center. The Cougars won with scores of 25-19, 22-25, 25-11, 25-20.
Senior Justine Farmer recorded her fourth double-double this season in the win. The El Paso, Texas recorded 20 kills and 15 digs. Her 20 kills is the second highest single match total this season. Farmer opened the season with 22 kills in a 3-1 win over Marquette.
Houston is now 9-7 on the season and 2-2 in Conference USA play.
The Cougars out-killed the Mustangs 16 to eight in the first set on a .243 hitting percentage to win the set 25-19 to open the match. SMU tied the set 6-6 before Houston used a 4-0 run to pull ahead 10-6. The Cougars continued to hold the lead, 14-11, before the Mustangs would be forced to call their first timeout.
Out of the break, Houston used back-to-back kills to set the tone for the remainder of the set. UH would continue strong play and pull ahead for its biggest lead of the set, 24-18, before holding on for the 25-19 win. In the first set, Cave and Farmer each recorded six kills to lead the match.
Houston jumped out to a 4-0 lead to open the second set but SMU would battle back and tie the set, 10-10. The Mustangs would eventually take its first lead of the set, 13-12. The set would continue to be a back and forth battle with eight ties and three lead changes before SMU would lead 22-20, prompting a timeout from the Cougar bench. Out of the break, Houston would try and regain the lead, but they would be unable to as SMU tied the match, 2-2.
After losing the second set, Houston jumped out to a 7-1 lead to open the third set. The run forced the SMU bench to call a timeout. Out of the break, Houston went on a 5-2 run to extend its lead, 12-3, forcing another SMU timeout. But the timeout did not stop the Cougars momentum as they would go on to mount a 13-point lead, 23-10, before eventually taking the 25-11 win by its largest point difference of the match.
Senior Kelsey King opened the fourth set with a kill and a service ace from senior Barbara Freitas which gave Houston the early 2-0 advantage. They would go on to build a six point lead, 15-9, before the Mustangs would pull within three, 19-16, forcing Houston to call its first timeout of the set. Houston came out of the timeout scoring two quick points while SMU had one before the Mustangs wanted to stop the Cougar momentum with a timeout of their own.
The two teams traded points out of the break before Houston would score the final three points of the set to take the win, 25-20.
The Mustangs were held to 29 kills, making this the fifth time Houston has held an opponent to less than 30 kills in match.
UP NEXT
Houston will play host to Texas State at 7pm on Oct. 7 in a mid-week non-conference match-up before heading on the road for a weekend conference series against East Carolina and Marshall on Oct. 10 and Oct. 12, respectively.
