Strong Start Not Enough Against Rice in Opener

HOUSTON – After jumping out to a 2-0 match lead, the University of Houston Volleyball team fell to RV Rice in five sets (25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 12-25, 11-15) on Saturday inside Tudor Fieldhouse.
 
In the match, Houston (0-1) found a balanced attack on the offensive side, with three different Cougars posting double-digit kills. Sophomore outside hitter Abbie Jackson led the way with a match-high 20 kills. She was joined by junior outside hitter Kortlyn Henderson, who tallied 16 kills in her Houston debut and junior middle blocker Isabel Theut, finishing the afternoon with 12.
 
In her first collegiate contest, freshman setter Annie Cooke, dished out 52 assists. Junior libero Torie Frederick tied a career-high 25 digs in the match, with senior defensive specialist Abby Irvine (10) joined Frederick as those with 10 or more digs against the Owls (1-0). RV Rice 3, Houston 2
Set 1

• Rice jumped out to a quick, 4-0 lead, but Houston rallied to score four of the next six to trim the deficit to a pair.
• Jackson's fifth kill brought the Cougars back to within two, making the score 13-15.
• Four unanswered points from Houston put them out in front, 19-17.
• The Owls bounced back to tie the score at 20, but the Cougars ended the set scoring five-straight points to win 25-20.

Set 2

• The fifth kill of the match from Theut put Houston out in front by four, 10-6.
• A block at the net from sophomore outside hitter Celeste Darling and sophomore middle blocker Rachel Tullos, followed by a solo stop from Jackson forced a timeout from Rice with the Cougars ahead, 15-8.
• Theut continued to make her presence at the net felt, as a block stretched to lead to 18-9.
• Tullos sealed the 25-18 set victory with her first kill of the match.

Set 3

• Henderson joined Jackson as those with double-digit kills for the Cougars, as her 10^th kill brought Houston to within three at 11-8.
• Jackson continued to pace the Cougars with her 13^th kill that kept Houston at arm's length to make the score 16-13 in favor of Rice.
• After Houston climbed back to tie the score at 20, the Owls pulled away late and won 25-22 to force a fourth set.

Set 4

• With the score tied at five, Rice put together a 4-0 run to force a timeout from Houston.
• Following the break in action, the Owls score six of the next seven points to take a 15-6 lead and never looked back in route to the 25-12 set win.

Set 5

• An ace from Irvine tied the score at the seven, but a 5-2 run from Rice resulted in a timeout from the Cougars.
• The deficit would be too much to overcome, as the Owls ran away with the set, winning 15-11.

UP NEXT
Houston wraps up its home-and-home series with Rice when the Cougars host the Owls at 2 p.m. Sunday inside the Athletics/Alumni Center. With no fans in attendance, those wishing to watch Houston's home matches can do so by viewing Houston's contests on its Facebook page here. STAY CONNECTED
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