? Box score
SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA's bid for a third consecutive victory came up just short on Thursday night, as Houston rallied from a 2-1 deficit to earn a hard-fought 30-27, 28-30, 21-30, 30-26, 18-16 victory in front of 308 fans at the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners dropped to 3-5 on the season, while the Cougars won their second five-game match in as many nights to improve to 3-3.
UH used runs of 5-0 and 4-0 in the early stages of game one to take a 14-6 lead, but UTSA fought back late to draw within two at 28-26. However, the Cougars responded by scoring two of the final three points to pick up the three-point victory. The second frame featured 13 ties and four lead changes, as the Roadrunners hit .292 en route to a two-point win.
UTSA jumped all over Houston following intermission, as true freshman outside hitter Kendra Rowland led the offense with nine kills. After dropping the stanza's first point, the Roadrunners went on a 16-4 run to take command and cruise to the easy nine-point triumph. UTSA led for most of the next game, but the Cougars ? paced by outside hitter Justine Farmer's 10 winners ? battled back to tie the frame at 12 and never let UTSA reclaim the lead to send the match into a deciding fifth game.
The final stanza was nip and tuck throughout, as there were 10 ties and seven lead changes. The Roadrunners were able to fight off a pair of UH match points (14-13/16-15) and gain one of their own at 15-14, but the Cougars scored the final two tallies of the match to pick up the thrilling victory.
Rowland slammed home a career-best 29 kills (.239 pct), the most by a Roadrunner since Meagan Daniel produced 29 at Northwestern State on Nov. 11, 2005. Junior middle hitter Victoria Prior and junior outside hitter Gena Rhodes also were in double figures with 17 and 12 winners, respectively, and junior setter Rebecca Hrapmann handed out 58 assists.
Defensively, junior libero Audrey Hiser set a career mark in digs for the second match in a row with 27, while senior outside hitter Cristina Almeida added 15. Prior recorded seven total blocks (2 solo/5 assists) and Hrapmann and freshman middle hitter Valorie Rogers collected five block assists each, as UTSA registered a season-high 12 total blocks on the night.
Farmer was the star for Houston, as she racked up a match-high 34 kills on 99 attacks to go along with a team-high 19 digs. Setter Robin Fitzgerald dished out 67 assists and middle blocker Erin Rice added six total blocks (2 solo/4 assists).
The Roadrunners return to action on Friday night when they play the third match of the UTSA Classic against Auburn. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
