Houston celebrates scoring against Texas State during an NCAA women’s college volleyball match, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026 in Houston, Texas. | (Oscar Herrera/The Cougar)
The Flo Hyman Classic saw the 5-3 Houston Cougars split two games in the Fertitta Center, in which they fell to the 6-2 UTSA Roadrunners and won a thrilling match against the 5-4 Texas State Bobcats.
Houston had a hard time keeping up with the Roadrunners in the beginning of set one, being down as much as seven. The Cougars went on their 6-1 scoring run, starting with a kill by sophomore outside hitter Noemi Despaigne. The Cougars rallied, but fell in set one by a final score of 25-21.
Set two was neck and neck in the beginning, but the Roadrunners went up early. Key plays by junior outside hitter Sydney Jones and freshman setter Shannon Dworaczyk pushed the Cougars closer to the lead.
With the help of junior outside hitter Kamille Gibson, the Cougars went on a 3-0 run, but the Roadrunners held on to win the set 25-18.
Set three started with aces by Dworaczyk and Despaigne and kills by Jones helped the Cougars to a 10-7 lead in the beginning of the set.
Key kills by Jones and Gibson, plus a shared block by senior middle blocker Alexis Roberson and junior setter Klaei Edison, pushed the lead up to eight, allowing Houston to win the set 25-21.
Houston had costly errors in set four to help UTSA get the lead early. Gibson had an ace late in the set, but the Roadrunners held on to win the set and the match by a score of 25-22. The all-time record between the two teams is now tied at five games apiece.
Texas State, a newly established PAC-12 team, came with a win earlier in the afternoon, as they swept Houston Christian. This game had multiple scoring runs and the Cougars stayed calm under the pressure of the runs.
“I think we did well without panicking because we have each other,” Jones said.
The Cougars came out strong in the first set to build a lead as big as four. Texas State crept closer to the lead that the Cougars had, but Houston held on to win 25-23. The Cougars went on one more 3-0 run to cut the deficit to three, but it wasn’t enough, as the Bobcats took set two, 25-21.
Set three started off close, but the Cougars came out swinging and left Texas State’s hit percentage below .200. After taking over the court, landing kills and executing blocks, the Cougars won set three by the biggest margin of the match, 25-16.
Houston tried their best to close out the match in set four, getting out to an early lead, but Texas State knew they had to win to force a set five. The Cougars tried to close the gap to close out the match, but the Bobcats held the lead they gained in the set and took set four, 25-22.
In the fifth set, Texas State rallied to cut the deficit by three, but a kill by Jones ended the match for the Cougars in a five-set victory by a score of 15-11. The Cougar offense was led in kills by Jones, Despaigne and Gibson, who had over 75% of Houston’s kills.
“Our offense is really good,” Despaigne said. “We are really happy with our offense.”
The Cougars moved to 6-4 on the season after the five-set victory and broke a three-game losing streak.
The victory against Texas State was the first for the Cougars in 17 years and the first at home since 2008. The Cougars will return to the Fertita Center in a rematch with Houston Christian on Saturday, September 18, at 6:30 to close out the Flo Hyman Classic.
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