The Cougars hosted an exciting match against the South Florida Bulls (12-15, 6-9) Friday night. At the end of a tightly contested game, a Houston comeback fell short as the home team lost 1-3 in the fourth set (17-25, 25-27, 26-24, 24-26).
With this loss, Houston drops to 14-15 overall and 6-11 in the American Athletic Conference.
The ball bounced in the Bulls’ favor for the entire first set, and the Cougars could find no rhythm on either side of the ball.
The Cougar offense could not find any holes in USF’s defense, as they were held to a .059 hitting average as a team and had only one player with more than one kill.
On the opposing side, the Bulls dominated the Cougars’ defense, coming up with three players with at least three kills.
USF came out of the gate on fire and played an almost flawless game in the first set, putting Houston on their heels early.
“We set up our defense around it,” senior Cortney Warren said, “but there is not that much you can do when they are having a perfect set.”
The Cougars fared much better in the second set, matching the Bulls blow for blow with neither team unable to gain much ground on the other.
Senior hitter Kadi KullerKann got red-hot on offense, collecting seven kills in the second set alone, but it was not enough. At the end, with a lead, the Houston struggled to put it away and allowed USF to capitalize with three unanswered kills to take the set 27-25.
Down 0-2 after the half, the Cougars had no quit in them. “When the pressure is on, we always talk about sticking together, giving more and having each other’s back,” senior libero Natalie Keck said of the team’s mindset. “Don’t fall apart, that’s our main thing, don’t fall apart.”
The Cougar defense, which struggled much of the first half, regrouped and pushed Houston back into the game.
“We started blocking better, and it opened up for our diggers to make a read,” head coach Kaddie Platt said of the adjustments.
The “scrappy” defensive effort held USF to a .053 hitting average and Houston was able to force a fourth set. With a huge offensive effort for Kullerkann, who tallied 10 kills, the Cougars once again were in position to take the set, up 24-22 in the fourth. Yet again however, the team struggled to put it away and gave up four unanswered USF points to close the set 24-26.
In the end, despite showing a ton of heart, the Cougars lost momentum and were outplayed by an energized USF team.
“If we stick to a game-plan then it works, but they did a good job of keeping us from doing that,” Platt said of the loss.
It was business as usual for Kullerkann offensively, as she picked up her 29th double-digit kill game of the season with 25 total on the night. Cortney Warren also tallied double-digit kills against the Bulls with 10 to go along with five digs and two blocks.
Senior libero Natalie Keck, who was recognized before the game for her multiple career achievements, once again led the defense with 17 digs.
The Cougars will be back in action Sunday afternoon, as the team will host the Conference leading UCF Knights (22-7, 15-2) at 1 p.m.
