TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- Alabama took down the Houston Cougars in a thrilling match with the Tide winning 3-1 overall with set scores of 25-23, 22-25, 25-19, and 25-20.
After being defeated 0-3 in the Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos, Texas, Alabama bounced back and gave Houston their second loss of the season with the first two sets being a close run before taking back-to-back victories in the third and fourth sets. The Crimson Tide moves to 6-4 with their victory against Houston.
Sarah Swanson led the team with four solo blocks, which is the most for a Tide player since Leah Lawrence against Alabama State on Oct. 12, 2017. Abby Marjama and Kennedy Muckelroy came in the lead for the most kills in the game both tying with 11 kills. Marjama also added 10 digs for her first double-double of the season. Emily Janek earned her fourth double-double with 19 assists and 15 digs. Brooke Slusser led with 22 assists.
During the first set, Alabama reached the set point first, 24-20, before Houston came back to make it 24-23 and force a Tide timeout. When serving to tie the score, the Cougars sent the ball into the net for a service error as the Tide won, 25-23. The Tide took a 15-9 lead in the second set, but the Cougars revived to tie the score 15-15. Houston eventually took the lead 19-18, which led to the Cougars winning 25-22 to tie the match, 1-1. In set three, the Tide took a huge 9-3 lead, and kept the lead to win 25-19. With an early start in the fourth, the Cougars lead was cut short when the Tide came back with an 8-1 run to make it 13-7. Houston would only attain 20 points, with the Tide winning 25-20 to win the fourth set.
Alabama will be back in Foster Auditorium Saturday morning to face-off against Western Carolina, to improve their record (7-4). The match will be Saturday at 10 a.m. CT.
