Saturday, September 1
Lafayette, La.
10 a.m. CT
University of Houston
7-0
3
vs
0
Mississippi Valley State
0-7
1
2
3
F
Mississippi Valley
9
16
18
0
HOUSTON
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Stephen Pinchback
Houston Keeps Perfect Year Intact
9/1/2018 7:06:00 PM | Volleyball
Cougars begin season 8-0 for first time since 1987
LAFAYETTE, La. – For the first time in 31 years, the University of Houston Volleyball team has started its season 8-0 after a pair of wins on Saturday at the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic. In their first match of the day, the Cougars cruised past Mississippi Valley State (0-7), winning in straight sets (25-9, 25-16, 25-18), as Houston defeated Louisiana 3-1 (25-13, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20) in the afternoon.
At the conclusion of the tournament, senior setter Katie Krebs, junior libero Katie Karbo and sophomore outside hitter Faith Squier were named to the All-Tournament team. Krebs received MVP honors in the process, after leading the Cougars with 80 assists on the weekend, averaging 5.33 helpers per set.
GAME 1: HOUSTON 3, MVSU 0
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 –
Like so many times before, Houston wasted no time coming out of the locker room on fire, building a comfortable 10-5 lead in which sophomore setter Abby Irvine had assisted on half of the Cougars' points at that mark. Houston then stretched its advantage courtesy of one of senior middle blocker Chenelle Walker's two kills in the set, which put the Cougars ahead 16-6. By the end of the first frame, five different Cougars recorded at least two kills, helping Houston take the set 25-9, its largest set victory of the season.
Set 2 –
Freshman middle blocker Kendall Haywood paced the Cougar offense to a five-point lead at the 11-6 mark with her team-high four kills at that point in the match. MSVU showed its fight and climbed its way back into the game and trailed Houston by just one point. From there, the Cougars went on a 12-4 run to win the set 25-16 and go up 2-0 in the match. During that run, sophomore outside hitter Gabi Zelaya recorded three kills, while Haywood posted a pair of her own.
Set 3 –
The Cougars struggled to find their rhythm early in the final frame as Houston and MVSU traded blows through much of the start of the set, finding themselves knotted at 10-10. Once Houston claimed its second lead of the frame at 11-10, the Cougars never looked back and pulled away to win the set 25-18 and remain perfect in match play through the first seven games of the season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
GAME 2: HOUSTON 3, LOUISIANA 0
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 –
Sophomore setter Abby Irvine helped jumpstart the Cougars in this one, doing a little bit of everything as her pair of assists and service ace put Houston up 3-1. At the 8-5 mark, junior outside hitter Megan Duncan found herself responsible for half of the Cougars' points, tallying four kills at that point in the match. After Louisiana tied things up at five a piece, Houston surged on an 8-2 run to take a 13-7 lead and force ULL to call its first time out of the game. The Cougars managed to build themselves a double-digit lead at 18-8 and Houston never looked back from that point, rolling to a 25-13 set victory.
Set 2 –
Despite the Cougars building themselves a comfortable five-point lead to start the second frame, the Rajin Cajuns fought their way back into the game and ultimately tied the score at 13. Even once Houston reclaimed the lead, Louisiana never went away and kept pace with the Cougars for the entire set, until Duncan sealed the 25-22 set victory with her service ace.
Set 3 –
Houston forced Louisiana to call its first timeout of the set after coming out with a five-point, 8-3, lead. The Cougars kept a steady advantage for a while but the Rajin Cajuns slowly chipped away and eventually tied the score 13 for the second time in the match. A 7-1 run from Louisiana gave the host school its first lead of the set at 14-13 and even though Houston tied the score as late as 19-19, the Cougars were never able to recover as Louisiana won its first set of the match 25-23.
Set 4 –
Louisiana threw out the first punch in the fourth frame, claiming an early 5-1 lead, but Houston immediately responded with a punch of its own, tying the score at five. Courtesy of Duncan's 14th kill of the match, the Cougars took their first lead of the frame at 7-6. The rally continued for Houston as back-to-back aces from senior setter Katie Krebs capped off a 9-1 run and gave the Cougars a 10-6 lead. After a called timeout from Louisiana, the Rajin Cajuns scored six of the next seven points to reclaim the lead 12-11 but the battle was not over there. Once Houston broke the tie at 17, the Cougars pulled away and won the set 25-20 to keep its perfect season alive.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
UP NEXT
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 –
At the conclusion of the tournament, senior setter Katie Krebs, junior libero Katie Karbo and sophomore outside hitter Faith Squier were named to the All-Tournament team. Krebs received MVP honors in the process, after leading the Cougars with 80 assists on the weekend, averaging 5.33 helpers per set.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 –
Like so many times before, Houston wasted no time coming out of the locker room on fire, building a comfortable 10-5 lead in which sophomore setter Abby Irvine had assisted on half of the Cougars' points at that mark. Houston then stretched its advantage courtesy of one of senior middle blocker Chenelle Walker's two kills in the set, which put the Cougars ahead 16-6. By the end of the first frame, five different Cougars recorded at least two kills, helping Houston take the set 25-9, its largest set victory of the season.
Set 2 –
Freshman middle blocker Kendall Haywood paced the Cougar offense to a five-point lead at the 11-6 mark with her team-high four kills at that point in the match. MSVU showed its fight and climbed its way back into the game and trailed Houston by just one point. From there, the Cougars went on a 12-4 run to win the set 25-16 and go up 2-0 in the match. During that run, sophomore outside hitter Gabi Zelaya recorded three kills, while Haywood posted a pair of her own.
Set 3 –
The Cougars struggled to find their rhythm early in the final frame as Houston and MVSU traded blows through much of the start of the set, finding themselves knotted at 10-10. Once Houston claimed its second lead of the frame at 11-10, the Cougars never looked back and pulled away to win the set 25-18 and remain perfect in match play through the first seven games of the season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Freshman setter Kelsey Childers put together a career-game, handing out a team-high 13 assists in the match.
- In the first set, five different Cougars posted at least two kills. Eight players recorded an attack in the set and seven tallied at least one kill.
- The 16-point victory in the opening-set marked the largest set win for Houston this season.
- The final set of the match saw the Cougars put together five separate 3-0 runs.
- MVSU became the fifth victim to be swept by Houston this season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 –
Sophomore setter Abby Irvine helped jumpstart the Cougars in this one, doing a little bit of everything as her pair of assists and service ace put Houston up 3-1. At the 8-5 mark, junior outside hitter Megan Duncan found herself responsible for half of the Cougars' points, tallying four kills at that point in the match. After Louisiana tied things up at five a piece, Houston surged on an 8-2 run to take a 13-7 lead and force ULL to call its first time out of the game. The Cougars managed to build themselves a double-digit lead at 18-8 and Houston never looked back from that point, rolling to a 25-13 set victory.
Set 2 –
Despite the Cougars building themselves a comfortable five-point lead to start the second frame, the Rajin Cajuns fought their way back into the game and ultimately tied the score at 13. Even once Houston reclaimed the lead, Louisiana never went away and kept pace with the Cougars for the entire set, until Duncan sealed the 25-22 set victory with her service ace.
Set 3 –
Houston forced Louisiana to call its first timeout of the set after coming out with a five-point, 8-3, lead. The Cougars kept a steady advantage for a while but the Rajin Cajuns slowly chipped away and eventually tied the score 13 for the second time in the match. A 7-1 run from Louisiana gave the host school its first lead of the set at 14-13 and even though Houston tied the score as late as 19-19, the Cougars were never able to recover as Louisiana won its first set of the match 25-23.
Set 4 –
Louisiana threw out the first punch in the fourth frame, claiming an early 5-1 lead, but Houston immediately responded with a punch of its own, tying the score at five. Courtesy of Duncan's 14th kill of the match, the Cougars took their first lead of the frame at 7-6. The rally continued for Houston as back-to-back aces from senior setter Katie Krebs capped off a 9-1 run and gave the Cougars a 10-6 lead. After a called timeout from Louisiana, the Rajin Cajuns scored six of the next seven points to reclaim the lead 12-11 but the battle was not over there. Once Houston broke the tie at 17, the Cougars pulled away and won the set 25-20 to keep its perfect season alive.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Junior outside hitter Megan Duncan and sophomore outside hitter Gabi Zelaya each posted double-doubles in the match. Duncan finished with a match-high 16 kills and 11 digs, while Zelaya recorded 10 kills and 12 digs.
- Four Cougars posted double-digit digs, which is the first time this season such a feat has been accomplished. Junior libero Katie Karbo led the way with a match-high 24 digs, while Duncan, Zelaya and sophomore setter Abby Irvine (10) rounded out the group with 10 or more digs.
- Led by senior setter Katie Krebs' season-high four, the Cougars dominated the service line with their season-high 11 aces. Houston held Louisiana to zero aces.
- This marked the first four-set match of the season for Houston.
- In total, there were eight lead changes and 22 score ties in the match.
The Cougars are back inside the Athletics/Alumni Center from Sept. 7 – Sept. 8 as Houston hosts the annual Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup tournament.
Follow Houston Volleyball on Twitter and Instagram at @UHCougarVB, and "Like" UHCougarVB on Facebook.
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 –
Team Stats
MVSU
HOU
Kills
23
38
Errors
16
9
Attempts
77
83
Hitting %
.091
.349
Points
28.0
52.0
Assists
23
32
Aces
2
10
Blocks
3.0
4.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
3
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
S/DS
/ Volleyball
OH/RS
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH/RS
/ VolleyballMB/RS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballHouston at Big 12 Media Days
Thursday, August 07
Cougars All-Access: Barakat Rahmon (VB)
Tuesday, November 19
Cougars All-Access: Kate Georgiades (VB)
Wednesday, October 02
Cougars All-Access: David Rehr (VB)
Monday, September 16