Upset Bid Falls Short Against No. 6 Baylor

HOUSTON – The University of Houston Volleyball team held a 2-0 match lead against No. 6 Baylor, but was unable to complete the upset, falling in five sets (25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 9-25, 10-15) on Friday night inside the Fertitta Center.

With its 2-0 lead to start the match, the Cougars (12-3, 8-0 AAC) became the first unranked team to win the first two sets against the Bears (17-4, 13-3 Big 12) since Nov. 29, 2018. Thursday also marked the 11^th time this season Houston has won the first two sets. The Cougars are now 9-2 on the year in such contests.

Defense played a pivotal role for the Cougars on the night, with three different players surpassing double-digit digs. Junior Torie Frederick led the charge with a match-high 20 digs, as freshmen Sarah Martinez (15) and Annie Cooke (14) joined her. Houston also tallied 13 blocks against Baylor, tied for second-most by a Baylor opponent this season.

Offensively, Cooke handed out 37 assists, marking her fourth double-double of the season. Sophomore Abbie Jackson posted 18 kills on the night, while juniors Kendall Haywood and Isabel Theut, contributed nine and eight kills, respectively.

Set 1

After both teams battled it out to start the match, Jackson's fourth kill of the night put Houston ahead by two at the 17-15 mark.
Once a block at the net from Cooke and sophomore Rachel Tullos gave the Cougars a 19-16 lead, Baylor was forced to call a timeout.
Another block from Tullos stretched the lead to five, which proved to be all Houston needed to win 25-19 and take a 1-0 match lead.

Set 2

With Baylor ahead by one at 11-10, the Bears strung together a 6-3 run to build a four-point advantage.
Houston never backed down though, as the Cougars responded by scoring seven of the next 10 points to tie the score at 20.
From there, a block by Haywood put the Cougars ahead 21-20, where they never looked back in rout to the 25-22 set win to claim a 2-0 match lead.

Set 3

Baylor managed to build itself a seven-point lead, but Houston started to claw its way back, as a kill from Jackson narrow the gap to five at 16-11.
The deficit proved to be too much to overcome though, with the Bears winning the set 25-17 to force a fourth frame.

Set 4

The Bears led the entire set, in route to the 25-9 win to force the decisive fifth set.

Set 5

Another block from Haywood put Houston in front 5-4, and after Baylor tied the score, Cooke dumped a ball over the net to give the Cougars the lead again.
Baylor found one final rebuttal, responding with a 5-1 run, which proved to be the difference in the 15-10 set win.

UP NEXT
Houston plays its final home match of the season against Texas State at 6:30 p.m., Saturday inside the Fertitta Center. Tickets for that contest can be purchased here.

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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.

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Abbie Jackson

Kendall Haywood

Isabel Theut

Kortlyn Henderson

Players Mentioned

Annie Cooke

Torie Frederick

Kendall Haywood

Abbie Jackson

Sarah Martinez

Isabel Theut

Rachel Tullos

Players Mentioned

Annie Cooke

Torie Frederick

Kendall Haywood

Abbie Jackson

Sarah Martinez

Isabel Theut

Rachel Tullos

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Recent Results