HOUSTON -- Freshman Kirby Smith notched a double-double to help lead UTSA volleyball to a three-set sweep (25-21, 25-23, 26-24) over previously unbeaten Houston, extending UTSA's school-record start to the season, on Friday afternoon.
UTSA (6-1) pounded Houston (8-1) in three sets, taking the first by four points before fighting back from a hole in the second set to take a commanding lead. It marks UTSA's best start in program history, equaling the start to the seasons in both 1985 and 2015.
The Roadrunners were led in the match by a double-double from Smith, who had 12 kills and 10 digs. Senior Amanda Gonzales had 17 assists and freshman Mia Perales has a team-best 18 assists with seven digs. Emily Ramirez added nine digs in her season debut with Shelby Williams charting eight digs. Brianna McCulloch had 11 kills, with Kara Team finishing with six.
UTSA will return to action at 4:30 p.m. CT on Friday, facing Houston Baptist.
The Roadrunners dropped the first four points of the opening set before Montse Castro got UTSA on the board. UTSA rallied to even the set at six after a kill from McCulloch and the teams traded points to reach 9-9. A 3-0 run, including an ace from Williams and two kills from Teal lifted UTSA to a 12-9 lead and saw UH timeout. After kills from McCulloch and Froeschl, UTSA built a 19-15 lead and used two of the next three points to finish off a 25-21 win.
UTSA opened with the first three points in the second set as Smith's service led the Roadrunners to a 3-0 lead. UH took an 8-5 lead behind a serving run by Kendall Haywood before back-to-back kills from Smith and Froeschl evened it at 8-8. UH extended its lead to 15-9 and 17-12 before UTSA was able to fight back with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 17-15 and force a UH timeout. Houston was the first to 20, owning a 20-16 lead before UTSA roared to a 21-21 tie after an ace from Ramirez. UH took the first two points out of a Cougars timeout but three straight points, including kills from Smith and Froeschl saw UTSA race from behind for a 25-23 win.
The teams traded the first 18 points to open the third set. A pair of UH attacking errors saw the Runners take a 13-10 lead. With the set even at 16, Houston took a 19-16 lead to force a UTSA timeout but the Runners answered with the next three points to force a UH timeout. The teams traded points until 22-22 and kills from Smith took UTSA to a 24-22 lead.
- UTSA -
