Houston Baptist snaps TSU's six-match winning streak

HOUSTON – The Texas Southern volleyball team saw its six-match winning streak snapped Tuesday as the Lady Tigers fell in four sets to Houston Baptist in a non-conference contest.
 
Scores of the match were 25-10, 25-16, 24-26, and 25-18.
 
HBU's Melissa Fuchs knocked down a match-high 19 kills and hit .366 to lead the Huskies, who improved their record to 11-7.
 
Senior middle blocker Kali Fluke knocked down nine kills to lead Texas Southern, followed by Nicole Robinson and Alexis Austin, who chipped in eight kills apiece for the Lady Tigers. Robinson also tallied six total blocks in the match.
 
The loss evened TSU's record to 8-8, and marked the first time a visiting team had prevailed at the H&PE Arena since Nov. 14, 2014, when Southern claimed a four-set victory.
 
The Huskies got off to a quick start with a 15-point win in the opening set. HBU went on a 10-1 run after ceding the opening to establish its lead, and hit .520 in the opening set.
 
In set two, four unanswered points by the Huskies gave them a comfortable lead at 8-4; HBU's 7-2 run late in the set gave the visitors a 23-15 advantage.
 
In spite of falling down two sets, the Lady Tigers started to push back in set two, as the front line started to establish its defense of HBU's attacks. TSU outblocked Houston Baptist 16-14 for the match, after not recording a single block in set one.
 
TSU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in set three, thanks and two points (a block and a kill) from Robinson and two of Cassidy Jannson's match-total six kills. Another four-point TSU run, fueled by two kills from Fluke and another from Jannson, forced HBU to call its first timeout of the match trailing 9-3.
 
The Lady Tigers were set to cruise into set four when they led 20-9, and then 23-13, but a 7-0 HBU run trimmed the home team's advantage, and TSU used both its timeouts of the set during that run. The Lady Tigers got a bit of breathing room when HBU's Rachel Angeles committed a serving error on the next point to give TSU a 24-21 lead.
 
HBU would score the next three points before Austin and Ashlynn Caldwell tallied consecutive kills to give TSU its first set of the night.
 
With momentum still in TSU's favor, the Lady Tigers battled their Southland Conference guests back-and-forth in set four, but a late 8-2 run by HBU gave the visitors a 23-16 lead, which proved to be too much for the Lady Tigers to overcome.
 
Caldwell knocked down five kills for the Lady Tigers. Asia Howard handed out 14 assists, followed by Breyanna York with 10 assists.
 
Allison Woods led the TSU defensive effort with 13 digs, followed by Jannson and Ellena Torres, who tallied nine digs apiece.
 
The Lady Tigers return to Southwestern Athletic Conference play Friday when they host Prairie View A&M. The match will be the first of seven home SWAC contests for the Lady Tigers.
 
First serve against the Lady Panthers is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the H&PE Arena.