#23 Volleyball Moves on to NCAA Tournament Second Round

OMAHA, Neb. – The #23 University of Houston volleyball team earned its first NCAA Tournament win since 1994 in a five-set thriller against South Dakota in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at D.J. Sokol Arena on Friday afternoon behind multiple stellar performances.

The Cougars (29-3, 19-1 The American) continued their success in five-set matches, improving to 6-1 in contests that reach five frames. The match was the longest for Houston so far this season at two hours and 32 minutes. Houston also improved to 20-0 this season when holding a 2-0 lead.

Houston now advances to the NCAA Tournament's Second Round and will play Auburn (22-8, 10-8 SEC) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.

Graduate Kennedy Warren tallied a career-high 21 kills, earning her first double-double of the season by adding 11 digs. It marked the second time this season that Warren has led the match in kills. The Weatherford, Texas, native also added a team-leading four blocks in the match.

Sophomore Kellen Morin posted eight kills on nine attempts for a .889 hitting percentage, while senior Rachel Tullos tallied five kills with no errors for a .455 hitting percentage. Junior Kate Georgiades recorded a match-best 29 digs and senior Morgan Janda added a team-leading 27 assists.

Senior Abbie Jackson broke the American Athletic Conference's all-time service aces record in the match, tallying four aces to bring her to 156 in her career and surpassing Tulane's Kaylie McHugh's 153 from 2016-19. She also recorded her 11^th double-double of the season and 32^nd of her career with 14 digs and 11 assists.

Graduate Kortlyn Henderson posted a .480 hitting percentage behind a 14-2-25 line. In the process, she tallied her 1,500^thcollegiate kill and her 200^th collegiate block.

SET ONE
After trading the first few points of the first set to keep the score at 4-4, Houston went on a 10-1 run featuring kills by four different Cougars to take a 14-5 lead. The lead was enough to hold off South Dakota, with the Cougars winning 25-14.

Jackson led the match with five kills in the opening set, with Warren and Henderson both tallying four kills each. Henderson added a pair of blocks, while Georgiades earned four digs. As a whole, Houston dominated the frame, posting a .516 hitting percentage with 17 kills and only one error, while also holding the Coyotes to a .000 efficiency with only six kills.

SET TWO
The Cougars continued to hit well in the second frame. Houston jumped out to an early 10-5 lead to force a timeout from South Dakota. While the Coyotes hit at .300 in the set, the Cougars outpaced them by hitting .457 to keep South Dakota at arm's length for the remainder of the frame, earning the 25-19 win.

Warren paced the Cougars with five kills in the set, while junior Annie Cooke and Janda combined for 11 assists. Georgiades continued to control the game defensively, tallying seven digs.

SET THREE
Following the extended break, South Dakota jumped out to a 4-1 lead to start the third set. Teams started to trade points following, however South Dakota would ultimately go on to win the set, 25-18.

Warren again led the Cougars with four kills, while Georgiades tallied another eight digs to bring her total to 23 through three sets.

SET FOUR
The fourth set was a neck-and-neck affair. With the Houston leading 5-1, Georgiades lept through a table to keep a rally alive, then rejoined the play to set for an attack attempt by Warren. Following the highlight reel play by the two-time American Athletic Conference Libero of the Year, the Cougars won the 45-second-long rally.

THE EFFORT FROM @kate_george17!!! 💯💯💯

💻 ESPN+@NCAAVolleyball x #SCTop10 x #BeSomeone pic.twitter.com/A7RXRDW1EE
— Houston "Cardiac Coogs" Volleyball (@UHCougarVB) December 2, 2022

The Coyotes closed the gap at 7-5. The Cougars reestablished a larger lead at 14-7, however South Dakota tied the score at 17-all following an 8-1 run. Ultimately, the Coyotes forced a fifth set by taking the frame, 25-23.

SET FIVE
Looking to keep their NCAA Tournament run alive, Houston jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start the fifth set. While South Dakota would cut into its deficit, the Cougars led 8-5 as the teams switched sides. The Coyotes tied the set at 10-10, but Houston powered through a 4-0 run to set up match point. Two rallies later, Morin tallied a kill off an assist from Janda to keep the season alive, earning the set win, 15-11, and the match victory, 3-2.

UP NEXT
The Cougars continue in the NCAA Tournament with a second-round matchup against Auburn. In the first meeting between the two schools. The American champion Houston Cougars will look to improve to 4-0 against SEC teams this season, having already taken down LSU (3-1 on Aug. 26), Alabama (3-0 on Sept. 2) and Mississippi State (3-2 on Sept. 9).

Auburn features one All-SEC player in freshman Akasha Anderson and three who earned SEC All-Freshman honors. The team's starting seven include four freshmen overall, as well as a sophomore and two juniors. The Tigers are led by Head Coach Brent Crouch, who is in his third season at Auburn.

First serve in the contest is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

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