Sophomore Rabbecka Gonyo reacts to a kill in Marquette's opener against Houston.

Aug. 29, 2008

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MILWAUKEE-- The Marquette women's volleyball team lost a hard fought match Friday night, falling to the University of Houston in four sets, 3-1.

"I was really excited with how we started the match," said Marquette head volleyball coach Pati Rolf. "Our freshmen really showed the potential that this team possesses. Laira [Akin] is coming back from a knee injury and Ciara [Jones] really showed how powerful she could be once we started getting her the balls she needed. Amy Deelo really played some serious defense as well."

On the night both teams struggled with consistency as Houston had 16 service errors to Marquette's 13, four of which came in the pivotal fourth set. At the net, the Golden Eagles also had eight blocking errors.

"It was an error-driven game," said Rolf "If you eliminate errors you will win games. We had too many errors and that put us in a bad position.

Marquette came out firing on all cylinders in the opening set, getting off to a 8-3 lead following a kill by sophomore Rabbecka Gonyo and an attack error by Houston's Kelsey King. The Cougars continued to fight back, eventually tying the set at 15-15 on a kill by Nataliya Panova and took their first lead of the night at 16-15. The back-and-fourth battle continued in the first set as Marquette regained the lead after another kill by Gonyo on an assist from junior Caryn Mastandrea. Following Gonyo's fourth kill, Houston called their second timeout but failed to catch the Golden Eagles as Marquette captured the first set, 25-23 on a ferocious volley by freshman Ciara Jones.

Gonyo, Jones and Ashlee Fisher each had four kills in the first set while Mastandrea lead both squads with 13 assists.

The Golden Eagles got off to a slow start in the second set but never trailed by more than four points. After falling behind 7-3, Marquette fired back on a kill by Gonyo and a service ace by Hailey Viola to bring the score to 7-5. After continuing to cut into the Cougars' lead after falling behind by four, the Golden Eagles brought their deficit to 21-19 on an ace by Fisher forcing Houston to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Leslie Bielski and Jones responded with kills to pull Marquette within one at 23-22 before they ultimately lost the match, 25-22.

A kill by freshman Tiara Russell and an ace from Mastandrea let Marquette take the early advantage in the third set, 3-2. The Cougars came back roaring, forcing Marquette to take a timeout after falling behind 10-4. Following the timeout, Jones and Gonyo responded with kills bring the score to 11-6. Freshman defensive specialist Deelo got into the action with an acrobatic play, as she dove out of bounds to save a ball and struck it back over the net with one hand for a kill. The Golden Eagles used their last timeout of the set upon seeing their deficit grow to eight at 20-12.

Following Rolf's use of her final timeout, the Golden Eagles responded with kills from Fisher and Jones, along with four attack errors by the Cougars. Out of a Houston timeout, the Cougars built a lead of five at 24-19.

Showing the resiliency of a young team still learning to play together, the Golden Eagles would not let Houston close out the set as they played for the set-point. Two kills from Ashlee Fisher on assists from freshman Laira Akin brought Marquette to within two at 24-22 before the Cougars ended the set on a kill from Justine Farmer.

The fourth set mirrored the third as the Golden Eagles struggled to keep pace with the Cougars early on, leading to a Marquette timeout with the score 14-9. Houston took their first set timeout after an attack error by Kinsey Cave and an ace by Terri Angst put the game at 22-16.

Coming out of the timeout, Houston responded with an ace and a kill and awaited match-point at 24-16. Just as the Golden Eagles had in the first set, they stormed back and brought the set within two at 24-22 following two powerful kills from Jones. Houston eventually ended the match on the next play with a kill from Farmer, who ended the match with a match-high 22 kills.

On the night, Fisher led Marquette with 13 kills, while Jones added 11 and Mastandrea led the squad with 31 assists.

Marquette returns to action tomorrow, Sat., Aug. 30 at the Al McGuire Center against Chattanooga at 12:30 p.m. and Tennessee at 7 p.m.