HOUSTON, Texas- McNeese picked up two wins here Saturday at the Flo Hyman Collegiate cup to extend its winning streak to three matches and improved to 5-4 on the season. The Cowgirls opened tournament action with a straight set 3-0 (25-20, 25-11, 25-18) win over Mississippi State Friday morning before picking up a thrilling 3-2 five set win (19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9) in comeback fashion over Houston Friday night. The win over the Cougars is the second five set win by the Cowgirls this season. McNeese opened the season with a 3-2 win over Houston at the Texas-Arlington Maverick Classic on Aug. 25. McNeese will conclude tournament play with a 10 a.m. match against Stetson Saturday.
 
Senior Rae Myers and sophomore Katelyn Elliot gave McNeese a boost on offense as both players ended the match with 11 kills apiece while Keegan Nelms ended with nine kills. Adison Giambrone led the Cowgirls with 24 assists while Alexandra Aguilera was credited with 19. Three players record double figure digs with Angela McGownd leading all players with a match high 37. Nelms picked up 25 and Aguilera had 10. Shanna Spree found the open court for four service aces to go along with her career high seven blocks.
 
"Tonight seemed to be all about stepping up when it mattered the most," said head coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald. "We stayed real composed in the opening set and in the first parts of sets three and four. In the fourth set, we were lucky enough to have enough time to pull the set off and then I just loved our aggression in set 5. Its going to be a quick turnaround and then a match against a hungry Stetson team in the morning."
 
After Houston opened the match with a 25-19 opening set win, McNeese bounced back with a close 25-23 second set win to even the match at one set apiece. A 25-22 third set win by Houston put the Cougars up 2-1 and that is when the Cowgirls began their comeback.
 
In the fourth set, Houston held an early 7-3 lead but McNeese fought back to tie the set at eight all. Houston would score the next four points to take a 12-8 lead and then a 19-13 lead. McNeese went on a 9-0 run to take a 22-19 lead. After a point by Houston ended the Cowgirl run and cut the lead to 22-20, McNeese closed the set by scoring the next three points to even the overall match at two sets apiece to send it to a deciding fifth set.
 
McNeese came out aggressive in set 5 and held as much as a 4-1 lead. Despite Houston getting as close as one point early in the set, McNeese maintained the lead throughout the set. The Cowgirls held as much as a 9-4 lead and outscored Houston 5-1 to close out the set with three of the five points coming on three straight kills by Nelms that led to the overall win.  
 
"It was nice to get a win against a well coached Mississippi State team, "said head coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald. "They have some quality wins under their belt this season so I was happy with how we continue to consistently play our brand of volleyball against good competition," Fitzgerald said.
 
Sophomore Keegan Nelms led the Cowgirls with 11 kills while sophomore Shanna Spree picked up nine and produces a .450 hitting percent in 20 attempts without an error.
Setters Alexandra Aguilera and Adison Giambrone both dished out double figure digs with Aguilera collecting 16 and Giambrone had 15.  Libero Angela McGownd picked up a match high 26 digs while Madison Fontenot ended the match with 13 digs and a season high three service aces. 
 
As a team, McNeese hit .290 while holding the Bulldogs to a .118 hitting percent. The Cowgirls picked up 39 kills with 12 errors and the Bulldogs picked up 32 kills with 19 errors.