FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – LOVB Houston made it 3-0 against LOVB Atlanta this season Friday night, and its 25-23, 25-23, 15-25, 19-25, 15-8 victory ensured that the League One Volleyball title race is still up for grabs.
Match stats | LOVB Atlanta roster | LOVB Houston roster
After four sets, it seemed as if Atlanta (9-3) which still leads Houston (7-5) by two games atop the standings, was going to pull off a reverse sweep one week after Houston did it at Atlanta.
But Jordan Thompson turned it on in the fifth set. After four sets, she had nine kills and eight errors in 39 attacks. But in the fifth, JT had four kills with two errors in nine swings and one big block.
She was named player of the match, but in the on-court interview with TV analyst Salima Rockwell said, "I'm gonna be honest, I don't think I deserve player of the match."
Regardless of her thoughts on the honor, she set the tone in the fifth when her team needed it most, opening the set with a kill.
Jess Mruzik led Houston with 15 kills and had two blocks, nine digs and an assist.
"At one point Jess was like, 'You have to stop looking like you're not a two-time Olympian,' and I was like, 'Girl, I'm trying my best out here.' But it was rough tonight," said JT, who had nine digs.
"But you have to keep playing through it and know that it's going to come. I've been playing for I don't know how many years and I'm gonna have rough games. I think we all do, but thankfully I have amazing teammates who continue to support me."
Both teams struggled offensively as Houston hit .186 with one ace and 11 serving errors. Atlanta hit .216 and had seven aces and 12 errors. And Atlanta had a huge 18-9 blocks advantage.
"Volleyball is really a game of ebb and flow and momentum pushes and I think you saw that tonight throughout the entire match," Jordan said. "I feel like I say this every time, but this team continues to build grit and I think that's one of our biggest strengths. Even when things are not going well to continue to knock at that door and try to find ways to put pressure on the other team."
Madi Kingdon Rishel added 11 kills but had nine errors for Houston to go with a match-high 17 digs and two assists. Raphaela Folie had seven kills, including the match-ender, three digs and three blocks, two in the fifth set. Amber Igiede had seven kills with one error in 15 attacks, two blocks and two digs. Setter Micha Hancock had three kills in six errorless tries, that lone ace, a block, 14 digs and 35 assists.
Houston defeated Atlanta in four sets in the LOVB Classic title match and a week ago pulled off a reverse sweep at Atlanta. Both teams have four matches remaining in the regular season with an eye on winning a top-two spot in the standings and the resulting quarterfinal bye in April’s LOVB Finals. And they play each other one more time on March 27 back in the Fort Bend County Epicenter.
"I'm very happy," Houston coach Massimo Barbolini said. "It's getting more difficult to play because the season is long with practices and travel and it's not easy to play perfectly every time. But I think it's really important now to have a winning result.
"We played two really good sets. After, they played better than us but in the important moments the girls did a really good job. No mistakes and it's not easy in the fifth set."
Atlanta's Danielle Cuttino had 24 kills, second most in a match by any player this season, and hit .309 with an ace, two blocks and five digs. Nine of her kills came in the second set when she had just two errors in 14 swings. McKenzie Adams had 17 kills and hit .366 to go with an ace, three blocks and 10 digs.
"In set five we just let little things get away from us," said McKenzie, who had 17 kills against Houston last week. "Little things we took care of in sets three and four that allowed us those (set) wins. It comes down to small things."
Magda Jehlarova had seven kills, hit .333, and added two aces, six blocks and four digs. Tia Jimerson had seven kills, an ace, three blocks and two digs.
Setter Madi Bugg had 45 assists, two aces, two blocks and a team-high 16 digs. Piyanut Pannoy had 14 digs and three assists.
Saturday's League One doubleheader marks another week of playing on back-to-back days for Atlanta and Houston.
Atlanta faces LOVB Salt Lake at 4:30 Central, then Houston and LOVB Austin play at 7 p.m. Both matches may be seen on LOVB Live, YouTube or the Women's Sports Network via Samsung TV Plus.
