After going 1-1 in Florida last weekend, Houston volleyball looked to start this weekend off strong against Tulsa.
Despite a 25-kill performance from senior outside hitter Kadi Kullerkann, the Cougars (11-12, 3-8) were unable to pull off a win and fell to the Golden Hurricanes (14-8, 6-5) in four sets (21-25, 21-25, 25-22, 21-25).
Houston got off to a fast start, building a 14-8 lead in the first set but couldn’t hold on as Tulsa took 10 of the next 12 points on their way to winning the first set.
The offense continued to sputter in the second set, and the Cougars went into the half down 0-2.
“We started fast in the first set but then didn’t keep it up,” Kullerkann said.
After the offensive struggles of the first half, Kullerkann provided a much needed spark for the Cougars coming out of the break, scoring 7 kills and hitting .545 in a 25-22 third set victory in which the Cougars hit .257 as a team.
In a must-win fourth set the Cougars quickly built a 9-6 lead before Tulsa went on a 4-0 run setting up a 10-9 lead.
Houston was able to tie the game up at 10 before Tulsa scored the next three points, building a lead and never looking back.
The Cougars were able to hold off the match point for a little while, but were unable to complete the comeback and fell 21-25.
Kullerkann had a good game all-around leading the Cougars with 25 kills on .283 hitting while also picking up 2 aces, 4 digs and 2 blocks.
Senior right side Cortney Warren had another big night picking up 18 kills and hitting a team high .342 in the match.
“I didn’t notice anything very different from the last time we faced them,” Kullerkann said. “It was more about how we played than anything they did different.”
Junior defensive specialist Olivia O’Dell led the Cougars with 18 digs, tying a career-high.
Senior libero Natalie Keck came into the contest 19 digs shy of second place all-time in school history and added 15 in the match. She looks to move into second in Sunday’s match.
The Cougars look to move back to .500 at home against in-state rival SMU (18-5, 7-4) at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2.
“We’ll look to get back on track starting with practice tomorrow,” Kullerkann said.
