HOUSTON, Texas— No. 19 Houston set the tone early and kept McNeese out of rhythm in its 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-12) volleyball win Sunday evening.
 
Houston remained undefeated at 3-0 on the season and extended its home winning streak to 17 matches.
 
For the second straight match, McNeese (0-4) ran into a taller team that picked up a lot of points off blocks. Houston ended the match with 11 blocks to McNeese's five.  Houston also out hit the Cowgirls by a wide margin including a 45-19 kill margin.
 
Carissa Chainey and Kayla Wilson led the Cowgirls in kills with five apiece. Revna Cakir led McNeese with three blocks while Bailey Tillman led with seven digs and Megan Grose led with 11 assists.
 
 
McNeese will take part in its second tournament in as many weeks when they will travel to Provo, Utah to take part in the BYU dôTERRA Classic this Thursday and Friday.  The Cowgirls will face BYU at 7 p.m. Thursday and UC Davis at 8 p.m. Friday, both times central.   
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1
• Houston got off to a quick 10-1 start and continued to build on its lead on its way to the 25-13 win
• Carissa Chainey and Sanni Rantanen both picked up three kills apiece in the set
• Megan Grose picked up six assists and three digs
 
Set 2
• McNeese stayed within reach early in the set, but Houston took advantage of a few Cowgirl errors that led to an 8-0 run to lead 16-4 and a lead that the Cowgirls couldn't overcome.
 
Set 3
• Houston once again got out to the early lead (3-0) but two straight points by the Cowgirls brought them to within one point (3-2).
• Kayla Wilson's kill kept the Cowgirls within reach at 5-4 but the Cougars went on a 6-2 run to extend its lead to 11-6 and never looked back on its way to the win.
 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Houston led in just about every hitting category including kills (45), assists (42), service aces (5), digs (49) and blocks (11), and a .368 hitting percent
• McNeese ended the match with 19 kills, 19 assists, one service ace, 33 digs, five blocks, and a 0.10 hitting percent
• Carissa Chainey and Kayla Wilson led McNeese with five kills each
• Bailey Tillman led with seven digs and Megan Grose led with 11 assists
• Revna Cakir led McNeese with three blocks
• Houston was led in kills by Nena Mbonu's 11 kills.  Kellen Morin led all players with eight blocks