CEDAR PARK, Texas – Nothing came easy for LOVB Houston until midway through the fourth set Wednesday night in a 33-31, 25-23, 21-25, 25-16 victory at LOVB Austin.
"Today we won one difficult match," Houston coach Massimo Barbolini said.
Match Stats | LOVB Houston Roster | LOVB Austin Roster
Houston fought off five set points before having four of its own before winning a first set – the longest set in this inaugural LOVB season – that took 40 minutes.
"That first set felt like a marathon, back and forth and back and forth," Houston Olympic opposite Jordan Thompson said.
Houston trailed 13-6 in the first set but got back in it with a 4-0 run. Still, Houston trailed 20-16 before tying it the first time at 23-23.
"What we did well was keep our composure and continuing to stay big," Jordan noted. "I felt like that was a step forward for our team. It was a really difficult set and to get that one under our belt helps to build confidence, not only in the game, but also throughout the season."
In the second set, Houston (3-3) built an 11-6 lead but Austin (2-4) eventually tied it at 21-21 and again at 23-23.
Austin won the third set by scoring the last three points.
And even in the fourth, after Houston bolted to a 13-4 lead, Austin battled back again, getting as close at 16-13 before Houston pulled away again, responding with a 9-3 burst to finish the match.
"Austin fought like hell and that's what we want in this league," said Thompson, who led all scorers with 23 kills. She hit .317 and tallied two blocks, nine digs and four assists, two of them coming in the third set when Houston went without a setter.
"It's amazing to see such strong teams competing against each other."
Veteran Madi Rishel had her best match as she added 15 kills for Houston, hitting .316, and added two aces, two blocks and a match-high 21 digs. The other outside, rookie Jess Mruzik, struggled offensively with nine errors but still had 12 kills, nine digs and two assists.
Middle Amber Igiede had eight kills with one error in 15 attacks to hit .467 and had a match-high four blocks and seven digs. Opposite Grace Frohling had six kills with one error in 15 swings, a block and a dig. Her kill after a timeout ended the second set.
Micha Hancock had 47 assists and nine digs to go along with a season-high four kills. She only had one ace, but her serve wreaked havoc on Austin. Kaisa Alanko, who came in with Frohling in the double sub, had 11 assists and a dig. Libero Anna Pogany had 14 digs and two assists.
Houston hit .262 as it defeated Austin for the second time in as many meetings. The previous time, on January 9, Houston pulled off a reverse sweep.
Houston also played in the previous longest set this season when it got swept by Omaha, 28-26 in the third.
Houston is off until the LOVB Classic in Kansas City February 14-16.
"I'm really happy how we played at the end," coach Massimo said. "I started to see a team that I like. Our team on defense and no mistakes. For sure we have to improve on all levels, but in all the matches we are improving."
Austin's Madisen Skinner led her team with 20 kills, 10 in the first set. The opposite added an ace, two blocks and eight digs. Logan Eggleston, had 14 kills, all in the final three sets, as she hit .500 and had seven digs. The other outside, Anna Haak, had 10 kills, an ace, a block and 13 digs.
Middle Chiaka Ogbogu had seven kills, a dig, an assist and four blocks. Libero Zoe Jarvis, seemingly everywhere all the time, had 25 digs and nine assists.
Setter Carli Lloyd had 32 assists, a kill, two blocks and five digs.
"One thing I love about our group is that we have a lot of fight in us," Carli said. "We still have pieces we need to figure out, but there are moments of greatness and I think we really need to lean into that."
Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres added 16 assists and five digs. Austin hit .228.
Austin also is off until the LOVB Classic.
"I am so sorry for our fans, because we played three sets really good. We were not so lucky in the first two and we were so close to winning," Austin coach Marco Bonitta said. "Then we played a great set and in the last set OK.
"They played better than us and deserve to win."
The next League One Volleyball match is Friday when standings-leader LOVB Atlanta (4-1) plays at LOVB Salt Lake (3-3). The 7 p.m. Mountain start in the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, can be seen on LOVB Live, DAZN and the LOVB YouTube channel.
