UH traveled to Autry Court to take on in-town rival Rice, hoping to create momentum heading into the Conference USA Championships and avenge a 3-0 defeat suffered at the hands of the Owls on Oct. 7.
But that didn’t happen, as the Cougars were swept by the Owls 3-0 (20-25, 22-25, 20-25) to bring UH’s record to 9-22 overall and 6-10 in Conference USA – a disappointing finish, considering the Cougars went 20-12 overall last season.
The match epitomized the Cougars’ season; while the team played hard, it just didn’t have enough to beat the Owls (19-8, 11-5).
Rice won the first set, thanks in part to its 20 kills. Despite the domination, head coach Bill Walton said he liked the team’s effort.
‘We fought back,’ Walton said. ‘When (Stephanie Nwachukwu) started the game, we were a little out of synch, and then we got going.’
The Cougars ended up losing the next two sets, but Walton said the team continued to show their grit.
‘I think we executed fine in the second game, and I thought we executed pretty good in the last game,’ Walton said. ‘The problem is (Alik Cardoso de Sa) hadn’t set very much and so it was really inconsistent.
‘We fought the whole way, we didn’t give up, we didn’t stop fighting, we didn’t stop playing defense (and) we didn’t look like a defeated team. If you’re like that, things will eventually get better.’
The Cougars were forced to make adjustments to deal with the loss of two players. Fifth-year senior Erin Rice left the team for personal reasons and Tara Roenicke was taken out of the game due to dizziness.
Walton said the last-minute tweaks may have affected the game’s outcome.
‘Erin quit (Wednesday), so we tried to start Steph ‘hellip; because we thought we could use her kills,’ Walton said. ‘We put Ashley (Applequist) in; it kind of steadied us down a little. We got a little momentum going in the second game, so we were OK after that.
‘Now Tara ‘hellip; she suddenly was a little dizzy; she couldn’t figure out where she was. She got a little disoriented, like somebody with a concussion, so we had to sit (her) out, and that’s why she didn’t play the last game.’
In spite of all that adversity, Walton was still encouraged by the team’s toughness and is hopeful that it’s a sign of things to come.
‘What makes me happy is that all year I’ve been asking them to fight when we’re down and they actually did, so that’s a step in the right direction,’ Walton said. ‘If we’ll do that in practice and in games, I think we (have) lots to look forward to.’
The next thing to look forward to is the Conference USA Championship, which begins Nov. 20 at Autry Court.
