University of Houston Athletics
Houston Falls to Southern Miss in Four Sets
10/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 16, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
The University of Houston volleyball team lost a four set match, 3-1 (21-25, 16-25, 25-21, 18-25) to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles Friday night at Reed Green Coliseum.
The first match was the most competitive of the night with 12 tie scores and six lead changes. After Southern Miss took the lead by a score of 7-5, Houston rallied to win seven of the next nine points. The game would seesaw back and forth the majority of the set. With Houston trailing 19-20, head coach Bill Walton used a timeout. But the Cougars weren't able to keep pace with the Golden Eagles losing five of the next seven points. Senior Kinsey Cave notched three kills in the first set while Marluci Toazzi recorded four digs.
The Cougars fared worse in the second set by only forcing two ties and one lead change before Southern Miss jumped out to a 3-2 lead. The Golden Eagles tallied 15 kills in the first and second sets to establish an 2-0 deficit for the Cougars. Houston battled back in the third set and won 25-21. Freshman Jasmine Terry recorded seven of her 13 kills in the third set to give the Cougars their lone set of the match. The Cougars jumped ahead early by scoring five consecutive points to extend their 5-4 to 9-5. Southern Miss was able to cut the lead to a 3 point deficit when the score was 13-10, but Houston answered with a four point rally and closed the set out by winning five of the last seven points.
Houston lost the final set of the night 18-25. Errors were the cause for unraveling in this set as the Cougars recorded their set-high total of 11. There was only one tie at 1-1 during this set as the Golden Eagles earned the victory. Toazzi recorded half of her ten kills in the final set and senior Alik Cardoso de Sa registered over half of her eleven digs. But in the end, the number one team in Conference USA standings were too much for the Cougars to overcome.
Houston falls to 6-17 for the season and 3-5 in conference play. The Cougars return to action Sunday, Oct. 18 at noon to face UCF in Orlando, Florida.
