HOUSTON, NOV. 1, 2015 – Trailing 2-0, the USF volleyball team rallied to win the final three sets and the match 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 27-25, 15-7) at Houston Sunday.
It was the second consecutive five-set match for USF (8-16, 5-7 The American) after a tough 3-2 loss at Tulane on Friday. It was also the second five-set match for USF against Houston (15-9, 5-7 The American). The Bulls fared better on Sunday than the 3-2 loss at The Corral on Oct. 2.
Junior Dakota Hampton recorded her ninth consecutive double-double with 16 kills and 13 digs while hitting .214. Freshman Molly Burkhardt tallied 30 assists, the third time this season the freshman has had a match of at least 30 assists. She added 15 digs for her second consecutive double-double.
Clara Payne and Joli Holland each had 11 kills and led the blocking effort. Payne had four solo blocks and two assisted blocks while Holland had nine assisted blocks. Overall, USF had more blocks than Houston (16-9) and more digs (95-82).
“Our middles were unstoppable,” said head coach Courtney Draper. “We were able to reduce our errors tonight and apply pressure to their best offensive players.”
After winning the first set 25-21, Houston got out to a 7-1 lead in the second set. USF scored six of the next seven points to get within one point, 8-7. The Cougars took an 18-12 lead, but the Bulls fought back again, scoring six of the next eight points to trail by one point, 20-19. USF could never take the lead and fell 25-22.
UH got out to an 8-6 lead, before the Bulls stormed back to take a 10-9 advantage. USF's lead grew to 15-11 after scoring four-straight points and later led 21-16. The Bulls hit .312 on their way to a 25-18 third-set win.
USF used the momentum it had from the third set to take an 11-5 lead in the fourth set. Houston scored five-straight points to get within one point, 17-16. The Bulls led 23-19 until the Cougars rallied off five-straight points again to earn a match point, 24-23. Consecutive attack errors on Houston kept USF in the match as it won the set 27-25 on another Houston error.
USF dominated the fifth set and led 11-7 before winning the final four points for a 15-7.
“I'm very proud of our kids and the fight they showed to come back after being down 0-2,” said Draper. “That showed a huge sense of resilience.”
It was the finally of four consecutive road matches for USF which returns home on Wednesday to face UCF at 7 p.m. in the Sun Dome.
