Memphis swept in three sets at Houston

Saturday, March 13

Houston, Texas

2:00 PM

University of Memphis

5-7,2-6AAC

Houston

12-2,8-0AAC

Memphis

Houston

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Mar 13, 2021 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

HOUSTON, Texas – A day after a heartbreaking five-set loss on the road in Houston, the Memphis Tigers struggled to slow down the AAC West's top team in a three-set loss to the Houston Cougars, 18-25, 17-25, & 16-25. The Tigers hit just .074 as a team and committed more than twice as many errors as the Cougars, as Houston locked up the top spot in the division and a position in the AAC Championship.

While Friday's match was close in nearly every set, the opposite was true on Saturday. The Cougars started the match on a 3-0 run and extended the lead to five at 7-2. Memphis kept pace with Houston through much of the remainder of the set, and twice cut the deficit to two points, but never got closer than that. The Cougars went on a 5-0 run to take a 15-8 advantage, and a 4-0 run to set up set point at 24-16. Memphis fought off two set points before Abbie Jackson, who had a match-high 26 kills on Friday, tallied her second kill of the set, which gave Houston the 25-18 win and 1-0 lead.

The second set started much like the first, this time with a 4-0 Houston run. The Tigers won three of the next four points on a pair of kills from Jada Birkel and a finish from Gigi Crescenzo, but at 3-5, Houston rattled off six straight points to take an 11-3 lead. The Tigers never got closer than six points in an effort to level the match, as Houston scored five straight to go ahead 13-6 and two straight to take a 23-14 lead. Memphis put three in a row on the board on two kills from Crescenzo and one from Miaya Smith, which made it 23-17 Houston, but the Cougars finished the set on a kill by Rachel Tullos and a Memphis attack error. The Cougars won 25-17 and led 2-0.

Memphis hung around early on in the third set despite a hitting percentage of -.056 in the set. The Tigers led 5-4 and 6-5 before Houston went on an 8-0 run that gave the Cougars a 13-6 advantage. Memphis was able to get within five on two occasions, both on kills from Sam Drewry, but already down 14-9, the Tigers gave up four straight points, as Houston led 18-9. The Tigers used kills from Smith and Crescenzo, paired with two Houston errors, to get back within five at 19-14, but Houston took four of the next five points and led 23-15. An attack error by Drewry set up match point for the Cougars, who capitalized immediately on a kill from Jackson that ended the match. Houston took the third set 25-16 and the match 3-0.

Tigers Tidbits

This was the fifth consecutive loss for Memphis against the Cougars, with the Tigers' last win vs. Houston Oct. 12, 2018
- The Tigers last won in Houston Nov. 13, 2016
No Memphis player tallied double-digit kills for the first time since Feb. 26 vs. Tulsa, also a 3-0 loss
Memphis had three players hit better than .250 (Birkel, Crescenzo, & Smith), but also had three players hit negative (Drewry, Huber, & Hamilton)

Up Next
After a tough weekend in Houston, Memphis will head into a bye week before the team's final matches of the regular season. The Tigers host SMU Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27 at 5 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. respectively.