Sunday, Jan. 24

Wichita State 3, Missouri State 2 (25-23, 22-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-9)	Box Score
Houston 3, Rice 0 (25-23, 25-21, 27-25)	Box Score

Highlights

Wichita State 3, Missouri State 2

The Wichita State University volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit, defeating the Missouri State Bears, 3-2, Sunday, Jan. 24, in the final match of the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Hammons Student Center. The set scores were 25-23, 22-25, 21-25, 25-23 and 15-9.

Wichita State (3-0) is scheduled to host the North Texas Mean Green Thursday, Jan. 28, and Friday, Jan. 29, at Charles Koch Arena. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. Thursday and 6 p.m. Friday.

Sophomore Sophia Rohling matched her career-high with 13 kills and added a career-best seven blocks, while Nicole Anderson added 10 kills and a team-high 19 digs for her second double-double of the season.

Kayce Litzau added a team-high 22 assists, going along with 12 digs for her first double-double of 2021, and compiled a career-high five service aces in the five-set thriller.

Senior Emma Wright added a match-best seven blocks, and fellow senior Brooke Smith had a career-best six blocks, respectively.

The Shockers outhit Missouri State (4-1) in the match, .143 to .084, and tallied a match-best 17.5 blocks.

After falling behind in the contest, 2-1, Wichita State scored the final seven points of the fourth set to rally and force a decisive fifth set. WSU never trailed and hit a blistering .444 in the fifth, completing the comeback.

Brooklyn Cink had 18 kills, while Amelia Flynn added 16 kills and 20 digs for a double-double, pacing the Bears.

Anderson was named the MVP of the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational after hitting .284 with 37 kills and 37 digs in three matches, while Rohling and Sinalauli'i Uluave joined her on the all-tournament team. Missouri State's Cink, South Dakota's Elizabeth Juhnke and Oral Roberts' Jaxie Wakley rounded out the all-tournament team selections.

Houston 3, Rice 0

After falling to RV Rice in five sets on Saturday, the University of Houston Volleyball team avenged its heartbreaking defeat and bounced back to sweep the Owls on Sunday in straight sets (25-23, 21-25, 27-25).

The win marked the first of the season for the Cougars, who improve to 1-1 on the year, while the Owls fall to 1-1 as well. Sunday's victory for Houston was also its first over Rice since Nov. 16, 2012, when the Cougars took down the Owls 3-2 in the Conference USA Tournament.

Houston found itself in a tight battle throughout the contest, as the score was tied 20 times, with the largest lead from both sides being just six points. Junior outside hitter Kortlyn Henderson and sophomore right-side hitter Celeste Darling led the way for the Cougars, each notching 10 kills in the match.

Defensively, Houston saw three players surpass the 10-dig mark. Junior libero Torie Frederick posted a team-high 13 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Abbie Jackson posted 12 and freshman defensive specialist Sarah Martinez logged 10. Junior middle blocker Isabel Theut showed her presence at the net, recording four blocks on the afternoon.
Houston 3, RV Rice 0

Set 1
Despite Rice holding a slight edge early, the Cougars kept the score close, trailing 8-7.
Houston was forced to call a timeout after Rice put together a five-point lead, 16-11.
The Cougars responded from the timeout to pull within two after a dump off from freshman setter Annie Cooke.
Houston climbed back and scored five of the final six points to take the first set, 25-23.

Set 2
A block at the net from Darling quickly put the Cougars out in front, 6-3.
After Rice fought back to tie the score, sophomore middle blocker slammed home her fifth of eight total kills to pull Houston in front by a score, 11-10.
The second service ace from Cooke in as many days stretched the Cougar lead to 21-19, where they never looked back to take the 25-21 set.

Set 3
The trend of neither team gaining a significant edge on the other continued, with the score knotted at six.
Rice then went on a 7-2 run, before another dump off from Cooke ended the Owls' rally.
After Houston regained the lead, a double block from Theut and Darling put the Cougars in front 18-16, forcing a Rice timeout.
The Owls found a rebuttal and tied the score five more times before the Cougars were able to finally pull away and take the 27-25 victory.