Following their first defeats of Conference USA play last weekend, the Cougars got back to their winning ways Friday as they knocked off East Carolina in four sets (23-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-22), and again Sunday in a clean three-set sweep (25-15, 25-21, 25-12).
UH (12-5, 5-2 C-USA) entered the match 1-2 in road contests in the C-USA season, but was never truly tested by the Pirates in both matches.
“This was a very solid weekend for us,” head coach Molly Alvey said. “Being on the road, and coming off two losses, these were really big confidence wins.
“Playing a team twice in one weekend is something you’ll rarely find in volleyball. It’s a little more risky to do so for this sport, but we had a game plan and we stayed in rhythm through both matches.”
The Cougars tipped off Friday’s contest dropping the first set 25-23, and appeared to still be shaking off last Sunday’s five-set defeat against SMU.
Out of the break, however, the Cougars caught fire and raced to a 13-6 lead to start the second set. After briefly fending off a late run from the Pirates who fought to erase the lead to two points, UH powered through to tie the match at one set apiece.
Putting the first set behind them, UH went on to steamroll through the match, finishing with 67 kills and 63 digs to ECU’s 37.
Senior Lucy Charuk led the match with 21 kills on .633 hitting.
“We put her in good positions and she did the rest,” Alvey said.
Riding the confidence of Friday’s victory, the Cougars swept the Pirates Sunday in the back end of the two-match visit.
After posting a career-high 13 kills in Friday’s match, freshman outside hitter Kadi Kullerkann got the starting nod Sunday and did not disappoint, posting 10 kills.
The Cougars take the court against UTEP at 7 p.m. Friday at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
