Match Results
- McNeese def. Houston 3-2, (25-21, 25-22, 28-30, 16-25, 15-11)
- Arlington, Texas
- Match Stats
Press Release
Courtesy of McNeese Athletics
McNeese volleyball held off the University of Houston to open its season with a 3-2 (25-21, 25-22, 28-30, 16-25, 15-11) win here Friday at the Texas-Arlington Maverick Classic. McNeese will take on UTA at noon and Southern at 5 p.m. Saturday to conclude tournament play. Both matches will be streamed live and the links can be found by going to mcneesesports.com.
“This was a great way to kick off the season,” said head coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald. “If we couldn’t pull it off in three, I’m grateful we had the opportunity to get a five setter against a solid team like Houston under our belt. I thing we saw some first match nerves and jitters out there, but we played within ourselves and stuck to our system and it paid off at the end of the day,” Fitzgerald said.
Sophomore Keegan Nelms led the Cowgirls with 12 kills and ended the match with her first double-double of the season by picking up 22 digs. Sophomore Katelyn Elliott also picked up double figure kills with 11. Four Cowgirls recorded double figure digs with sophomore libero Angela McGownd leading McNeese with 32. Also collecting double figure digs besides McGownd and Nelms was freshman Madison Fontenot with 14 in her first collegiate start. Sophomore Alexandra Aguilera also picked up a double-double with 11 digs and 19 assists. Senior Adison Giambrone dished out a team high 25 assist and was on dig short of a double-double with nine digs.
McNeese was active at the net, ending the match with 10 team blocks. Both senior Jenny D’Alessandroand junior Ebony Lewis led McNeese with five apiece. Sophomore Shanna Spree in her first match back after a season ending knee injury last season, was credited with four blocks and nine kills.
McNeese opened the match with a solid offensive performance, hitting .387 behind 15 kills and only three hitting errors while picking up 12 digs to take the first set 25-21.
The Cowgirls continued where they left off in the first set by picking up a 25-22 second set win to take a 2-0 lead. McNeese continued to play consistent on both offense and defense and ended the set with a .247 hitting percent.
McNeese couldn’t end the match in straight sets despite holding a 20-15 lead. With the set tied at 23 all, both teams traded points until Houston won the set 30-28 to take its first set of the match.
Houston evened the math at two sets apiece with a 25-16 fourth set victory to send the match to a deciding fifth set. Houston took an early 7-2 lead and never looked back, extending its lead to 23-16 lead on a Sarah Afflerbaugh kill. Houston won the set on a Cowgirl hitting error.
The Cowgirls took advantage of Houston errors to take an 8-4 lead. McNeese extended its lead to 12-7 on a Lewis kill and another Houston error. With the Cowgirls leading 12-9, D’Alessandro and Rae Myers combined for a block assist to extend the lead to 13-9. A Myers kill then gave McNeese a 14-10 lead before Nelms put the final touches with a kill to give McNeese a fifth set 15-11 win and the overall match victory.
Press Release
Courtesy of Houston Athletics
The University of Houston Volleyball program rallied from a 2-0 deficit but ultimately fell 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 30-28, 25-16, 11-15) to McNeese in its 2017 season opener on Friday afternoon inside College Park Center as part of the UTA Invitational.
With the decision, the Cougars fall to 0-1 on the young season, while the Cowgirls improve to 1-0.
Houston will close out its participation in the tournament with two matches on Saturday. The Cougars will face off with Southern in a 10 a.m. first serve before seeing the host Mavericks in the finale at 7 p.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Down 2-0, Houston seniors Sarah Afflerbaugh (10), Brianna Gardner (8) and Brianna Lynch (7) combined for 25 kills across the third and fourth sets to force a winner-take-all scenario.
Unfortunately, in the fifth set, McNeese jumped out to a 8-4 advantage and never looked back en route to a 15-11 victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Despite being outhit .174-.136, Houston out-killed McNeese, 70-52.
- Senior outside hitter Brianna Lynch led all and tied her career high with 17 kills.
- Senior Sarah Afflerbaugh and freshman Gabi Zelaya each recorded double-doubles. Afflerbaugh finished with 14 kills and 11 digs, while Zelaya turned in an 11-kill, 11-dig effort in her collegiate debut.
- Senior middle blocker Brianna Gardner finished with 11 kills and tied her career high with four services aces.
- On the defensive front, sophomore libero Katie Karbo recorded a match- and career-high 35 digs, while redshirt freshman Kylie Napoleon recorded 11 digs in her inaugural match.
- The Cougars ran a trio of setters through their 6-2 formations Freshman Abby Irvine narrowly missed a double-double with 35 assists and nine digs in her first match, while junior Katie Krebs and senior Keandra McCardell recorded 13 and eight assists, respectively.
SHASTA PASS
The Houston Athletics Ticket Office is once again proud to offer the Shasta Pass for the 2017-18 season. For just $80, Cougar fans can purchase one Shasta Pass, which allows season-long general admission entrance to all Houston Volleyball, Soccer, Women’s Basketball and Softball home games.
The Shasta Pass offers Houston fans a substantial saving as single-game tickets start at $5 for all four sports. To purchase a Shasta Pass, call 713-GO-COOGS or Click Here.
STAY CONNECTED
Follow Houston Volleyball on Twitter @UHCougarVB and “Like” /HoustonCougarVolleyball on Facebook. Houston Volleyball is now on Instagram as well at UHCougarVB.
JOIN POINT HOUSTON CLUB
Fans can help support the Houston Volleyball program by joining the Point HOUSTON Club. To find out more information about the Point HOUSTON Club, visit UHCougars.com or call Cougar Pride at (713) 743-GOUH.
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