Houston volleyball topped Iowa State in a five-set match on Wednesday, Oct. 10 in Fertitta Center.
The contest clocked in at two hours and 52 minutes, the longest match during head coach David Reher’s time in Houston.
The Cougars kept their distance from the Cyclones for much of the fourth set but fought their way back to a 22-22 tie thanks to a block assist from freshman middle blocker Addisyn Pohl and graduate outside hitter Julianna Dalton.
Graduate outside hitter Angela Grieve laid down a serve on the Cyclone’s side of the court but committed an attack error on the next sequence to keep Iowa’s hopes alive. The Cyclones took the next three points to force a fifth set with a 26-24 win.
Houston never trailed in the fifth set and took the first five points. Grieve recorded her 21st kill to give Houston a 14-8 lead. On the next play, she tallied a block assist with redshirt junior middle blocker Barakat Rahmon to take the match.
Houston set the tone early as they went up 7-1 in the opening set. The Cougars maintained a lead for the entirety of the set but their fight was not easy, as Iowa State rallied back and kept within striking distance.
The Cyclones had an uphill battle as they started the night without two key offensive threats in junior outside hitter Maya Duckworth and sophomore middle blocker Pam McCune.
Near the midway point of the first set, a silence fell over the Fertitta Center as sophomore outside hitter Nayeli Gonzalez suffered what appeared to be a knee injury.
A brief warm-up period ensued after the injury and Houston never held more than a three-point advantage for the remainder of the set. A service ace from redshirt senior Rebecca Rocassin secured the set for the Cougars, 25-21.
In the second set, Houston held a 24-20 advantage before Iowa State scored four straight points.
The Cougars failed to take advantage of kills from junior outside hitter Avery Shimaitis and Grieve, which put Houston in two set-point situations. Iowa State put together two straight kills to secure a 28-26 victory.
In the third set, two straight kills for Grieve preceded three straight Cyclone attack errors to give Houston five straight points and a 13-10 advantage. The Cougars won the set on a four-point run with back-to-back kills for Grieve.
Notably, Graduate libero Kate Georgiades put up 26 digs to mark her third consecutive match with 20-plus digs.
Graduate setter Annie Cooke recorded a double-double with 32 assists and 17 digs, as she moved into 10th on Houston’s all-time matches played list at 127.
The win put Houston over .500 on its overall and conference record.
Next, the Cougars will travel to the state of Arizona for matchups on Wednesday, Oct.16 with Arizona State and on Friday, Oct. 18 with Arizona.