The volleyball team is still looking for their first conference win after dropping two games over the weekend. | Courtesy of Juan DeLeon
Cougar athletics was busy over the weekend with swimming and diving, volleyball and soccer, with all competing and enjoying different levels of success.
Swimming and diving
The Cougars won three relays en route to a victory in the season-opening North Texas relays at the LISD Westside Aquatic Center Friday night.
The Cougars totaled 386 points — 52 more than defending American Athletic Conference champion Southern Methodist University. The University of North Texas and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock finished third and fourth.
Sophomore Eleanna Koutsouveli, freshman Laura Laderoute and sophomore Jenny Penneck helped the Cougars earn the first podium of the season with a victory in the 300-yard backstroke at 2:52.84.
The Cougars grabbed the top two spots in the 400-yard medley relay behind a school record 59.77 finish in the 100-yard individual medley from Laderoute.
The freshman-led team of Laderoute, Peyton Kondis, Isabel Tank and junior Ksenia Yuskova captured the victory in 3:53.46. The time was just 32 milliseconds ahead of Koutsouveli, freshman Victoria Roubique, junior Sharo Rodriguez and freshman Zarena Brown.
Volleyball
The volleyball team’s struggles continued after dropping both matches over the weekend and falling to 0-4 in American Athletic Conference play.
The Cougars dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 loss (25-16, 18-25, 25-18, 18-25, 7-15) to the University of Tulsa on Friday night. They were unable to put the Golden Hurricanes away after winning two of the first three sets.
Junior setter Keandra McCardell notched her fourth double-double of the season and 24th of her career with 42 assists and a career-high tying 18 digs.
Junior outside hitters Brianna Lynch and Sarah Afflerbaugh continued their strong seasons and led the way with 17 and 10 kills respectively.
The Cougars were back in action Sunday afternoon, falling 3-0 (17-25, 7-25, 14-25) to in-state rival Southern Methodist University.
The Mustangs never trailed in the match and dominated the Cougars, statistically outhitting them .368-.053, with a 43-25 advantage in kills, 7-1 edge in blocks and 44-40 lead in digs.
Soccer
Soccer was unable to upset No. 17/19 University of Southern Florida and fell 2-1 at Corbett Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Despite holding the Bulls to 12 shots in the first half, USF took advantage by scoring two goals in the first 14 minutes of play.
Junior Vanessa Almaguer netted the lone goal for the Cougars, her second this season, in the 56th minute off a penalty kick.
