The University of Houston volleyball team remained perfect following the first weekend of the 2011 season after a 3-1 win over Central Arkansas in the final game of the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup Saturday night at the Athletics/Alumni Center. With the win Houston starts the season 3-0 for the first time since 2002.
"This weekend was absolutely fabulous," head coach Molly Alvey said. "We put together this tournament knowing what we could go 3-0 or we could go 0-3 because there were three solid teams here this weekend. It is a great set up for next week but our competition is going to have a completely different look so we still have a lot of work to do."
After winning all three games of the tournament, junior Katie Norris and freshman Natalie Keck were named to the All-Tournament Team, while junior Stephanie Nwachukwu was named the tournament MVP. Here is the picture of our Lady Cougar All Tournament Team.
"Stephanie played lights out," Alvey added. "One thing that she's been working on is just being consistent, so instead of hitting .800 one match and .150 in another we just want her to be in the middle and I'd say she did that since she hit almost .400 every single match. She was unbelievable."
Norris finished the night with a game-high 16 kills and nine digs. Nwachukwu added 15 kills on a .370 hitting percentage.
Houston scored the first three points of the opening set and never looked back. Despite a 5-5 tie early in the contest, Houston held all the control. The Cougars extended their lead to 17-10, prompting a timeout from the UCA bench. Out of the break, UH allowed just four points to take the first set 25-14.
Nwachukwu led the way with four kills, while Norris, senior Ingrida Zauere and junior Chandace Tryon added three each.
After falling behind early in the second set, Houston battled back to tie the score, 8-8. The Cougars traded scores with the Sugar Bears before taking a 15-14 lead into a Central Arkansas timeout. UCA scored the first two points out of the break, but a Nwachukwu kill tied it 16-16. After breaking the deadlock, Central Arkansas pulled away and took a 21-17 lead. But just as it had all weekend, Houston battled back to within one, 21-20, before falling short 25-21.
Tryon and senior Lucy Charuk combined for six kills for the Cougars in the second set.
Alvey used the extended break to regroup her squad. They came out of the locker room for the third set and jumped out to a 10-4 lead. A Sugar Bear timeout was quickly called, and the Cougars continued to extend its lead out of the break. UCA was able to get within 17-12, but Houston played solid volleyball and took a 22-15 lead into a second UCA timeout. Central Arkansas scored the first points off the bench, but Houston allowed just one more point the rest of the way to take a 25-17 win.
Norris paced the Cougars in the third set with eight kills, while Nwachukwu connected for six kills. Behind the efforts of Norris and Nwachukwu, Houston posted a .400 hitting percentage in the third set.
Houston came storming off the bench in the fourth set to take an 8-4 lead, and the Sugar Bear bench quickly called a timeout. The Cougars came out of the break to go on an 8-1 run, extending their lead to 16-5. UCA cut the deficit to single digits, 20-15, but Houston kept them at bay and won the set, 25-19.
The Cougars will be back in action Aug. 31 for an exhibition match against the Israeli National Team. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
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