After four intense sets, UH volleyball secured its 11th win of the season, defeating Cincinnati 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at Fertitta Center.
UH scored the first point of the match, but Cincinnati responded and took an early lead in the first set. A reversed call leading to another point for Cincinnati was answered by a couple of kills from graduate middle blocker Isabel Theut.
UH pulled ahead late in the first set, forcing Cincinnati to call a timeout. However, the timeout didn’t stop the Cougars’ momentum. Sophomore middle blocker Kellen Morin’s kill won UH the set, 25-23.
Five consecutive errors early on in the second set allowed the Bearcats to take a huge lead, putting the Cougars in a deep hole. UH battled back, taking an 18-15 lead, but Cincinnati made a comeback winning 10 of the next 15 points to take set two 25-23.
UH faltered during the first half of the third set, lending to an 11-7 Cincinnati lead. Thanks to a kill by graduate outside hitter Kortlyn Henderson, UH was able to tie the set at 15. The set went back-and-forth but senior middle blocker Rachel Tullos came up big with a kill to give the Cougars a 26-24 set.
The fourth set was tight to begin with, but the Cougars quickly pulled away from the Bearcats midway through the set. Theut acquired three kills in the fourth set alone, leading to a UH 25-17 fourth set victory and 3-1 match victory.
Theut led the way to victory in Sunday’s match with 15 kills and a .355 hitting percentage. Morin had eight kills and a .500 hitting percentage and Tullos finished with 11 kills and a .364 hitting percentage.
UH improved to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in AAC play.