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The Cougars extended their three-game win streak at home with a come-from-behind victory over Texas State on Tuesday at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
Houston won the first set of the night 25-23, but the Bobcats battled back to take the next two (25-23, 26-24), forcing the Cougars into a must-win situation for the last two sets (25-10, 15-12).
"We knew what we had to do (in the fourth set)," sophomore middle blocker Lucy Charuk said. "We just had to play like we did in the first game."
The Cougars (10-7, 0-2 C-USA) handed the Bobcats (1-12, 3-1 Southland Conference) their biggest loss of the night by winning the fourth set 25-10, tying the game at 2-2. Houston completed a 21-6 run and senior outside hitter Justine Farmer completed six kills to force a fifth set against the Bobcats.
Head coach Bill Walton said the Cougars won the fourth set by minimizing errors. UH had only two errors in that set compared to the 20 committed in the first three sets.
"We served the ball in. We didn’t hit the ball out of bounds and we blocked like crazy," he said.
Walton said late service errors cost Houston the momentum they gained after winning the first set.
"We missed all of our serves after the score was at 20. You can miss serves at 5 or 6, but it makes your team tense when you start to miss (that late in the game," he said.
In the final set, the Cougars put the Bobcats away 15-12 after trailing 9-5 at the beginning of the set. Farmer recorded three consecutive kills to spark a 6-0 Houston run, giving the Cougars a 11-9 lead.
The Bobcats closed the gap to 13-12, but Houston cemented the win with 2 consecutive points.
"We only blocked (sophomore right side hitter AJ Watlington) one time, and that was game point," Walton said.
Charuk led the Cougars and tied a career high with 21 kills while senior outside hitter Justine Farmer recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 19 kills and 14 digs on the night.
Junior outside hitter Jessica Weynand paced the Bobcats with 14 kills.
The Cougars resume conference play with a two-game road trip this weekend. Houston faces East Carolina at 6:00 p.m. on Friday before their matchup against Marshall at noon on Sunday.
