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The UH volleyball team split two Conference USA matches at Hofheinz Pavilion, defeating Saint Louis 3-1 on Friday but falling to Memphis 3-1 on Saturday.
Houston lost Game 1 Friday against Saint Louis 30-24, but came back to win the next three games 30-24, 30-21 and 30-23. It was the team's first win in four matches.
The UH attackers kept the pressure on the Saint Louis defense. The Cougars got a combined 50 kills from freshman outside hitter Kelly McAnelly (19 kills) and junior middle hitters Cinthia Piva (16) and Loure Dews (14).
“I thought the win against Saint Louis was big for us,” head coach Bill Walton said. “It was the first win in a while, and I hope it will give us a confidence boost.”
It looked like the team had found its confidence in Game 1 against Memphis, as the Cougars came out aggressive and played with energy, winning the game 30-26 behind 10 kills from McAnelly.
“In the first game, we were hitting great, passing great and playing great defense,” Walton said. “But the energy dropped after that, and the wheels sort of came off.”
The Cougars lost Game 2 30-26, to fall into a 1-1 tie. The team began to unravel in Game 3, committing five service reception errors and eight attacking errors in a 30-21 loss. The Cougars rebounded in Game 4, but lost 30-26 en route to the 3-1 loss.
“The reception errors killed us,” Walton said. “That's the story of the match. You simply can't win making those kinds of mistakes.”
The UH attack was again led by Piva (20 kills), Dews (18) and McAnelly (17). “We came out really pumped up, but we just couldn't keep up the energy,” McAnelly said. “We weren't mentally focused, and we didn't seem to be at 100 percent.”
Junior setter Mirela Vasconcellos played another strong match with 56 assists and 10 digs.
The Cougars are now 5-13 overall and 1-3 in conference play. With the victory over Saint Louis (7-12), the Cougars preserved their unbeaten record against teams with losing records.
“I think we're playing better as a team,” Piva said. “We just need to make more of an effort to go for every ball, and we need to cut down on our mistakes. We'll get there.”
UH next faces Texas Christian at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Fort Worth. The team's next match at Hofheinz Pavilion is at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31 against Marquette.
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