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.
