Sports Volleyball

UH volleyball defeats Wichita State in five-set thriller

Sophomore setter Annie Cooke was fired up on Friday night as UH volleyball defeated Wichita State in five sets. | Courtesy of Sean Marty/The Sunflower

Sophomore setter Annie Cooke was fired up on Friday night as UH volleyball defeated Wichita State in five sets. | Courtesy of Sean Marty/The Sunflower

The UH volleyball team went on the road to Wichita State to take on the Shockers and came out victorious in a five-set thriller to bring the Cougars’ record to 20-5 and 10-3 in the American Athletic Conference.

The first set saw the teams going back and forth with much of the match up sitting at a tied score.

Wichita State led 15-13 after a net violation and error from the Cougars.

But UH caught back up quickly thanks to a kill from senior middle blocker Isabel Theut and an error from the Shockers.

After a setter dump pushed Wichita State up 20-18, the Cougars came out of the timeout to regain the lead, forcing a timeout for the Shockers.

UH’s late 4-0 was run not enough to take the first set, as the Shockers won 29-27.

The Cougars trailed narrowly early in the second set, plagued by service errors.

After a 17-12 deficit, crawled back to lead 21-20.

But yet another service error knotted the set.

Miscommunication errors helped Wichita State take the second set past 25, but UH won 27-25.

The Cougars were up 9-6 early in the third set, causing the Shockers to call a timeout.

UH kept its sizable lead up until the end, as sophomore setter Annie Cooke ended the set 25-18 with a service ace.

The fourth set was tied 6-6 after back-and-forth kills from both teams.

Capitalizing off of the Cougars’ mistakes, Wichita State climbed up to a 14-9 lead.

From there, the Shockers offense heated up, fueling Wichita State to an 18-12 lead.

UH could not calm the onslaught as the Shockers took another set 25-17.

The Cougars were off to a hot start in the decisive fifth set thanks to key blocks from junior middle blocker Rachel Tullos.

Tullos posted seven blocks in the match.

After a tip from senior outside hitter Abbie Jackson, UH was up 6-2.

Jackson ended with 18 kills and nine digs on the night.

Another stuff from Tullos prompted a Shockers timeout.

Wichita State managed to score four straight points to cut the Cougars’ lead to four.

After another timeout, the Shockers were only behind by two.

At 14-12, Wichita State blocked a big swing from Jackson to stay in the game.

The Shockers served out of bounds to end the game, as UH took the match 15-13.

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