Junior Katie Karbo led the Cougars with 22 digs against Memphis. | Thomas Dwyer/The Cougar

Houston came out with the mamba mentality after Friday’s loss to Tulane to gift Memphis with a 3-1 loss, just like the one UH received in October.

In the first set, Houston’s players seemed to be in sync with one another, used seamless transitions and impressively recovered from uncontrolled possessions.

On the other hand, Memphis threw kills directly into the net in the first set. The team’s lack of call outs and static movement was no match for Houston’s effort.

Memphis’ players did not seem too confident with their abilities and made mistakes often seen in lower-level play. This led to Memphis handing the win over to Houston in a 25-19 final score.

The second set was more of the same as Houston commanded the game and Memphis was never in front.

Houston showed its defense has greatly improved over the season with senior Katie Krebs and junior Katie Karbo digging almost every kill attempt by Memphis, or at least the kills that were not eaten by the net.

Memphis continued to miss call outs, which led to two players diving their heads directly into each other for a dig and a 25-17 win for Houston.

Redshirt senior Chenelle Walker showed Memphis her ability to find gaps in the defense at will, which sparked UH to go on a 5-0 run to take the lead in the third set.

Then Memphis took command of the set by brute force from kills and lucky points from Houston’s off-target kills. In the end, Memphis had a strong third set and took the 25-23 win.

With Houston’s confidence in question, Memphis tried to turn the match around, but UH went on a seven-point comeback of its own and never looked back.

The final set of the game saw Walker stare down her opponent and kindly tip the ball right back for a point. It also included more Memphis players running into each other with more kills for the net.

With the game in its hands, Houston closed it out for the 25-20 win for the match and revenge. Houston goes on the road against Wichita State Friday at 7 p.m.

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