UH volleyball won its 23rd match of the season, sweeping Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon. | Esther Umoh/The Cougar
Houston volleyball breezed past Cincinnati, sweeping the Bearcats 3-0 in the Cougars’ final home game of the season.
The beginning of the opening set was close, with neither team leading by more than one.
The game shifted after an ace from sophomore libero Kate Georgiades served an ace, sparking a 4-1 run.
This set saw the middle blockers established early, as senior middle blocker Isabel Theut slammed one through the middle to bring the UH advantage to 17-13.
With another run, 3-0, the Cougars reached 20, while Cincinnati trailed by 6.
Sophomore setter Annie Cooke dumped the ball over for a kill, and UH never looked back, taking the first set 25-17.
In the second, the Cougars took off early thanks to hot offense.
But the Bearcats responded by taking advantage of back-to-back errors from UH.
Two straight kills from Theut gave the Cougars the momentum to tip the set back into their favor, as UH scored the next five of six points.
The Cougars led 13-10.
After the kills seemed to rain down from both sides, junior outside hitter Abbie Jackson heated up with three quick kills to push UH ahead by six.
Jackson went on to finish with 14 kills in the game.
Two more from middle blocker Rachel Tullos put the set out of reach for Cincinnati, as the Cougars won 25-16.
In the final set of the day, senior defensive specialist Torie Fredrick gave the Bearcats trouble from behind the service line.
Leading 8-4, UH held on to a slight lead until embarking on a 5-0 run, highlighted by kills from Theut and senior outside hitter Kennedy Warren.
With a 19-11 advantage, the match seemed to be over.
The Bearcats were able to put together short runs, but the bursts of offensive execution were not enough to overcome the deficit.
But when Cincinnati managed to score four straight points, it was the Cougars’ turn to huddle up.
With the Bearcats trailing by just one, UH took the set due to an attack error from Cincinnati, securing the sweep.
