HOUSTON, Texas – The HCU volleyball team concluded their participation in the Rice Invitational on a high note with a straight-set victory over Texas Southern University (TSU) on Saturday morning at Tudor Fieldhouse. The Huskies secured the win with set scores of 25-23, 25-20, and 25-12.
The match began with both teams trading leads before HCU (1-2) gained momentum with pivotal plays from Cassidy
Drapela and
Audrey Pearce before a six-point burst put the Huskies ahead, 12-5. TSU (0-2) struggled with several attack and service errors, but enjoyed a stretch of eight-straight points to get back within one, 18-17. The Huskies kept TSU at bay, however, maintaining a slim lead the rest of the set before Pearce finished it, 25-23, with a kill.
In the second, The Tigers took an early 3-0 lead and maintained a lead until consecutive points on a pair of TSU errors put HCU ahead, 11-10. Two points later, HCU got kills from Pearce and Garza along with a service ace by
Bianca Byerly to go up, 14-11. TSU fought back to regain an 18-17 lead but the Huskies rattled off an 8-2 run to finish off set two.
In the final set, HCU dominated from the start, with
Tatiana Evans serving up three aces. As a team, the Huskies finished the set with 12 kills and just four errors en route to a .320 attack percentage. HCU wrapped up the set with a decisive 25-12 win, finishing the match on a high note.
Notable performances for HCU included
Drapela with nine kills, Garza with 8 and Pearce with seven. Pearce and Garza also contributed 4 blocks each. Evans led the team with three aces and 15 digs, while
Grace McLaughlin recorded 27 assists and 12 digs.
Next week, the Huskies will host the Molly
Howard-Gerwig Memorial Tournament from September 5-7. They will face Howard, Kansas City and New Mexico.
