Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Houston Baptist
Wildcat volleyball drops five set match to HBU
9/6/2014 4:54:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
USAFA, Colo. – The Weber State volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller 3-2 to Houston Baptist Friday night at the Air Force Invitational. The 'Cats held a 2-1 lead but HBU rallied for the 24-26, 21-25, 27-25, 25-20, 16-14 victory.
After falling behind early on in the first set 17-11, the Wildcats came storming back to take the lead at 21-20. They were able to fend off the Huskies and take the highly competitive second set.
In the third set, each team responded to another's run by gaining momentum and getting themselves back into the match. With the set tied at 25, the Wildcats pulled away after a kill by freshman Amanda Varley and a service ace by senior Audrey Biggs.
After losing the fourth set, the Wildcats allowed the Huskies to get an early advantage in the deciding fifth set. Down 11-7 and after a timeout, the Wildcats came out on fire. After kills from sophomore Megan Thompson and sophomore Ciera Borho, they were one point away from winning the match. But as the Huskies had done all match, they just did enough to get the win.
The Wildcats received another outstanding performance from their outside hitters as they had career nights. Biggs set another career-high with 22 kills while sophomore Borho eclipsed her previous high with 18 kills. Biggs also added 13 digs in the loss.
Redshirt Freshman Taylor Christensen continued to impress with 58 assists, while junior Audrey Hunter was a force upfront with 8 blocks. Senior McKay Tarbox tied for the team-high with 13 digs and 2 service aces.
The Wildcats hit a total of 68 kills compared to the 51 that were put up by the Huskies but were only able to hit .132.
“I thought it was a fun match because it kept going back and forth, “ said WSU head coach Tom Peterson. “But we couldn't convert in the end and missed some chances at the end. If we eliminate some of those errors we win the match. It was a great effort by our team though.”
The loss drops the Wildcats to 2-3 overall. WSU wraps up the Air Force Invitational tomorrow when they take on Marist at 10:00 a.m. then take on Air Force at 7:00 p.m. A live feed of that match will be available by following this link: http://www.themw.com/#!/watch-live
