Traveling to Houston for the first time since 2007, the Longhorns played their games in an arena filled with over 7,000 people and drove back home to Austin with two back-to-back wins, remaining undefeated in conference play.
Winning 3-1 on Saturday and 3-0 on Sunday, Texas put up a strong defensive game to battle back from behind.
Texas held control of the entirety of the first set for both games in the series.
In Saturday’s game, the Texas defense held Houston to a low hitting percentage of 0.121, finishing with a 25-21 win. Winning by an even larger margin in Sunday’s game, the team finished the set up by 15 points, holding Houston at a negative hitting percentage of -0.083.
Junior outside hitter Madisen Skinner led the way offensively in Saturday’s first set, hitting 0.500 with seven kills.
Achieving her fifth double-double of the season in Saturday’s game, Skinner finished with 21 kills, 10 digs and two service aces.
Skinner also led the team in kills on Sunday, hitting only one less than her Saturday performance.
Despite the Longhorn’s strong performance in the first set, the Cougars struck back in the second set on Saturday.
Tied at 17 points, Houston called a timeout after they lost their lead. The timeout proved effective. When both teams came back on the court, the Cougars won eight consecutive points to take the second set.
However, the Longhorns flipped the script on Sunday, winning the second set 25-19. A tough serve from senior middle blocker Asjia O’Neal led Houston to pass the ball a little too close to the net, giving Texas a five point lead as senior middle blocker Bella Bergmark spiked the ball into the court.
O’Neal and Bergmark both got four blocks each on Sunday, while O’Neal finished with a team high of nine blocks on Saturday.
The third set was close for both games.
Houston almost took a 2-1 lead in Saturday’s match, but the Longhorns picked up their blocking game and finished the set 25-23 on a 4-0 run, putting them in the position to win the match.
“Defense started the whole momentum with our team and they did a great job,” head coach Jerritt Elliott said after Saturday’s game. “We put pressure on them from the service line and our blocking.”
The Longhorns fought back and with a 5-1 run, they finished the set and won the match on Sunday.
