Fresh off a three-game winning streak at home in the Athletics/Alumni Center, the Cougars set out on the road hoping to continue their winning ways against Conference USA opponents East Carolina and Marshall.
Although Houston stretched the streak to four by defeating the ECU Pirates on Friday in Greenville, N.C., they could not keep it up against Marshall and fell to the Thundering Herd in three straight sets on Sunday.
Houston (11-8, 3-3 C-USA) fell to 1-5 all-time against the Thundering Herd (8-8, 1-5 C-USA), who earned their first win in conference by sweeping the Cougars in three sets in Huntington, W. Va.
Marshall opened the first set with a 5-0 run on the Cougars. Houston remained in the game and tied the score six times, including late in the game at 17-17, but the Thundering Herd went on a 3-0 run to squash a Cougar comeback and held on to win the first set 25-22.
In the second set, the Cougars posted the most team kills of the series with 12, and freshman outside hitter Nataliya Panova posted seven of the Cougars’ kills in the set.
However, the team also committed 11 errors while Marshall only had two. Head coach Bill Walton said the Cougars’ sloppy play caused them to fall two sets behind Texas State at the Athletics/Alumni Center on Tuesday, and although the Cougars completed the comeback-win at home, they fell 25-16 to Marshall in the second set and again found themselves in a must-win situation.
In the third and final set, the Thundering Herd held Houston to just six kills, and the Cougars committed six errors while Marshall executed 14 kills and just had four errors. The Thundering Herd handed Houston its largest defeat of the night with a 25-14 victory to sweep the series.
Marshall was led by senior hitter Jalicia Ross, who finished with 19 kills and one error against the Cougars.
Senior outside hitter Justine Farmer led the Cougars with 13 kills, and Panova ended the series with nine.
Against the ECU Pirates (11-10, 1-5 C-USA) three Cougars reached double-digit kills, and two players recorded double-doubles as the Cougars swept the Pirates in their third conference win of the season.
Sophomore middle blocker Lucy Charuk had a team-high 15 kills while Farmer and Panova added 12 each. Farmer had 11 digs. Senior setter Kelsey King finished with 44 assists and 11 digs, and both players earned their sixth double-doubles of the season.
In the first set, Houston led the Pirates 19-11 late in the game and held off a 4-point run by ECU to capture the 25-18 win. The Cougars opened the middle set with a 7-point run and never trailed in the set, winning 25-19.
The Pirates played their closest game in the final set, getting a series-high 13 kills against the Cougars, but Houston held on to win 25-21.
ECU freshman outside hitter Amanda Lutzow had a team-high 12 kills and junior setter Hannah Fenker chipped in with 27 assists.
The Cougars return to Houston for a two-game weekend series against C-USA rivals UCF on Friday and Southern Miss on Saturday.
