The Cougars’ effort against the University of Texas at San Antonio proved too little and a tad bit too late when they lost 3-1 against the Roadrunners.
“We battled,” said volleyball head coach Kaddie Platt. “But we did not come out relaxed and ready to play at the start.”
Dropping to 1-6 for the year, the Cougars struggled early with holding off UTSA’s offensive explosions and aggressiveness at the net and over-the-net game.
The first two sets went against UH 25-14 and 25-21. The Roadrunners’ penchant for quick scoring and antagonistic defense proved to be a thorn in the sides of the home team. UH was cursed by several errors that prevented any form of momentum to end the set.
In the second set, UH led several times because of the play of senior middle blocker Chandace Tryon and senior outside hitter Katie Norris, who turned in solid performances with three and four kills, respectively. Numerous lead changes and a team total of 12 kills showed a higher level of competitiveness before halftime.
Coming out of the locker room to start the second half, the team seemed decidedly more aggressive. They played with an intensity that led to a 25-20 win in the third set. The team had a total of 15 kills and 35 total attempts.
“We needed to serve better,” Platt said. “They are a good team and we couldn’t afford to have mistakes.”
Going into the crucial fourth set, each team swapped kills and leads early and often. Freshman outside hitter Shelby Vance and Tryon added two straight kills to notch things at 23-23 near the end of the match, followed again by a 25-25 tie before the Roadrunners went ahead with the final two points to win.
Despite the results, Platt insisted after the game that she saw some good in the match.
“We had a couple of young players on the court tonight. Shelby Vance did a good job attacking, while (freshman left/defensive striker) Olivia O’Dell showed she could play throughout the entire match.”
The Cougars stay at home this coming weekend for the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup, where they will face off against Florida State University, Pepperdine University and Ohio State University.
