After winning their first matchup of the 2008 Hotel Encanto Volleyball Classic at New Mexico State University, the Cougars lost the next two to finish the tournament 2-1, putting them at an even 3-3 on the season.
In the last game of the tournament Houston lost in three straight sets to Utah (17-25, 21-25, 16-25).
Senior outside hitter Justine Farmer managed only 10 kills. She finished the tournament with 36 kills compared to the 52 she had in the Marquette Kickoff Tournament.
Senior setter Kelsey King chipped in with 29 assists against Utah. She averaged 10.5 assists per set over the weekend and on Monday she was named the Conference USA Setter of the Week after her performance.
Sophomore middle blocker Lucy Charuk had eight kills and sophomore defensive specialist Amanda Carson led the team with 11 digs in the match.
Houston played from behind for most of the first set against Utah but fell 25-17. In the second set, the Cougars went on a dominating 10-0 run that sparked them to a 13-7 lead. With all the momentum on their side, the Cougars were looking to tie up the match, but Utah answered with a 9-0 run late in the match to stun the Cougars 25-21. A deflated Cougar team dropped the third set 16-25 despite four kills each from Farmer and Charuk.
Utah sophomore setter Stephanie Shardlow led the Utes with 36 of the team’s 40 assists, and senior outside hitter Kathryn Haynie helped with 10 kills and 10 digs.
Houston faced Florida Gulf Coast and New Mexico State on the opening day of the tournament. The Cougars won their first meeting with the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 3-1 (25-16, 25-27, 25-18, 25-20). In the second match Houston lost a tough five-set match to host school New Mexico State with scores of 21-25, 15-25, 25-23, 25-23 and 13-15.
Against the Eagles, Houston’s Farmer had 17 kills, and King added 52 assists and 15 digs. Carson had a team-high of 19 digs, junior right-side hitter Kinsey Cave had 11 kills and freshman outside hitter Nataliya Panova chipped in 10 kills and eight digs.
The Cougars played a strong four-set match to win against the Eagles and improved to 3-0 in four set matches on the young season. Houston dominated in all major categories with 55 assists, 56 digs and 78 points.
The Eagles finished with 44 assists, 51 digs and 61 points. They were paced by senior outside hitter Ana Kokanovic, who had 15 kills and 12 digs against Houston.
In the five-set match loss to New Mexico State, senior middle blocker and outside hitter Barbara Freitas led the Cougars with a career-high 17 kills. King had another great game with 45 assists, but Farmer had a tough match with only nine kills. Charuk and Cave also added nine kills each.
The Cougars fell to 0-2 on the season in five-set matches. Houston dropped the first two sets and had to win two consecutive matches to force a fifth set against the Aggies. The Aggies held their ground, winning the deciding set to improve their record to 4-5 all time against the Cougars.
The Aggies had strong games from senior outside hitter Lindsey Von who had 14 kills and 14 digs, and junior outside hitter Krista Altermatt added 12 kills and 10 digs.
The Cougars will continue to play on the road for the third consecutive week, where Houston will play in the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational. The Cougars will face SEC opponent Georgia on Thursday and Texas State on Friday.
