Volleyball Heads to Sunshine State (L UCF 3-0) (W USF 3-2)

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

  • After beginning the 2019 campaign dropping its first four contests, Houston has bounced back, having won 13 of its past 19 matches, including seven of the last eight.
  • After starting American Athletic Conference play 7-0 for the first time since 2000, the Cougars dropped their matchup with Cincinnati to move to 7-1 in conference action, to match their best eight-match start in conference since 2000.
  • Houston is no stranger when it comes to going the distance, as the Cougars lead nation 11 five-set contests. Overall, Houston is 7-4 in such contests, five of which came in five-straight matches (9/21-10/6).
  • The Cougars are the only school in the conference to have more than one player win a Player of the Week honor, having already won four. This is the first time Houston has had four different players earn a conference Player of the Week ( Abbie Jackson , OPOW-9/9; Katie Karbo , DPOW-9/23; Megan Duncan , OPOW-9/30; Rachel Tullos , DPOW-10/21) honor in program history.
  • As one of the best liberos to come through the Houston program, Karbo continues to the climb the charts in the record book. Karbo enters the weekend leading the nation with 504 digs on the year, and leads all Division I active players with her 2,223 career digs, which ranks second in program history.
  • Junior setter Abby Irvine leads the Houston’s balanced attacked, as her 14 double-doubles on the year are tied for most in The American. The Cougars are 10-4 this season when she posts a double-double.

UCF is probably the best team in conference, just a bit better than Cincy. Otherwise, Coogs are probably in at the top of the next tier of teams behind those 2.

Despite dropping their match with the Knights (15-7, 8-1 American) the Cougars remain on top of the West Division standings in the American Athletic Conference with their 7-2 mark in league action. Houston is now 13-11 overall on the year.

Friday saw junior setter Abby Irvine command the Houston offense again, leading all players with 31 assists. It marked the 13th time this season she posted a match-high in assists. Senior libero Katie Karbo continued to inch her way towards the conference’s all-time digs record, as her 14 digs put her 142 away from the top spot.

Senior outside hitter Claire Karsten and sophomore middle blocker Isabel Theut led the way for Houston in the kills category, as Karsten posted 11 slams, while Theut finished the match with 10 kills.

The win marks another comeback victory of the Cougars (14-11, 8-2 American), who have now competed in 12 five-set matches this season and are 8-4 in those contests.

On the day, junior setter Abby Irvine surpassed the 50-assist mark for the third time this year, finishing the battle against the Bulls (7-17, 1-9 American) with a team-high 51 helpers. Her day with rounded out with a season-high 17 digs, marking her conference-best 15th double-double of the season. The Cougars are 11-4 this season when Irvine records a double-double.

Houston found two players reach the double-digit kill mark in senior outside hitter Megan Duncan and sophomore middle blocker Isabel Theut. Duncan led the Cougars with 18 kills, while Theut’s mark of 15 kills is a career-high. Senior libero Katie Karbo posted another 20-dig performance and is 122 digs away from the American Athletic Conference receord.

https://twitter.com/UHCougarVB/status/1188524111393443841?s=20

https://twitter.com/ryanlevine93/status/1188804794263191552?s=20