The UH volleyball team continues their streak after a win Saturday night against Wake Forest (27-30, 30-24, 30-24, 30-28) to complete a 3-0 weekend at the Houston Invitational.
The team is back at .500 going into its first road conference match of the season against Central Florida on Friday night.
The Cougars (6-6) traded leads with the Demon Deacons for most of the first game until a run led by Wake Forest freshman outside hitter Megan Thornberry put her team up 24-19. UH came out of the timeout and got as close as 26-28, but dropped the first game 27-30.
The first game was not indicative of things to come for the Cougars. UH won the next three games led by freshmen outside hitter Hannah Sullivan and middle blocker Lucy Charuk.
Sullivan finished with a match and career-high 24 kills to go along with 14 digs for her first collegiate career double-double.
Charuk continued her consistent play by putting in 18 kills on a .410 hitting percentage. Sullivan and Charuk along with junior outside hitter Justine Farmer have led the Cougars in kills every match this season.
"It really helps when you have more than one weapon and the defense can’t just key in on certain players," head coach Bill Walton said. "We’ll be even better once we get a couple of more people involved."
Wake Forest was powered by junior middle blocker Natalie Mullikin who finished with a team-high 17 kills and junior outside hitter Jessica Furlong who recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 16 digs.
For the second consecutive match, two Houston setters recorded double-digit assists when junior Kelsey King and freshman Robin Fitzgerald added 23 and 37 assists, respectively.
Coach Bill Walton is pleased with the results that his dual-setter system has produced as of late.
"We have some depth at setter," Walton said. "Kelsey starts, but Robin comes on in relief and we’re successful. A lot of teams use two setters. Fortunately for us, if one is off the other can come through."
On Friday the Cougars played host to Stephen F. Austin and defeated the Ladyjacks (30-32, 24-30, 31-29, 30-25, 15-3).
The Cougars dropped the first two games and were forced to extra points before pulling out the third.
In the fourth game UH had its back against the wall and trailed 20-25.
With sophomore outside hitter Ashley Calhoun serving, the Cougars went on a furious tear and scored the match’s final 10 points to win 30-25 and force a fifth and decisive game.
Calhoun contributed seven digs in that game while Farmer added nine of her match-high 29 kills. Calhoun played sparingly in the first two games, yet finished with 15 digs, some of which were key to the Cougar’s success down the stretch.
"I just try to stay loose all of the time," Calhoun said. "If you happen to get in you have to be ready to make plays, and that’s what I tried to do."
The final game was all UH as everything appeared to be going right for the Cougars. They took early control of the game, 5-1 after consecutive blocks by Farmer and Charuk.
An SFA timeout was followed by much of the same when Houston scored three more unanswered points to make it 8-1 as the teams switched sides.
The Ladyjacks couldn’t muster a lead against a stifling Cougar defense and UH ended the game on a kill by Fitzgerald to win 15-3.
Farmer recorded 15 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Charuk and Sullivan added 20 and 15 kills, respectively.
Junior outside hitter Lauren Railey, who recorded a team high of 18 kills, led SFA.
Ladyjack senior setter JJ Jones finished with a match-high 37 assists to go along with 11 digs and 8 kills.
Jones played high school ball at Allen High School in Allen, Texas, with UH freshman defensive specialist Amanda Carson, who led the Cougars with 20 digs.
"I never thought I’d get a chance to play against her," Carson said. "It was fun to play against someone from my high school. I’m just glad we got the win."
UH will get a few days off before traveling to Tampa for its match against Central Florida on Friday. The match will be played in a high school gymnasium because the facilities at UCF were not available.
"That’s a first for me," Walton said. "It’s always good to play a road match when they don’t really have a home court advantage."
