Nov. 15, 2007

Box Score

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. -- - Southern Miss got a match-high 17 kills from senior Morgan Johnson as the Lady Eagles defeated Houston 30-27, 21-30, 30-28, 32-30 in the opening round of the Conference USA Volleyball Championship being played at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, W.Va., Thursday afternoon.

The Lady Eagles (13-20) captured their first C-USA tournament match since 2002, snapping a three-match losing streak in the postseason event.

"It was a great win for us," said head coach Ricci Luyties. "We have really been fighting hard at the end of matches lately rather than easily giving up points. We hung in mentally and never got down. We're giving ourselves a chance at the end.

"We got a little lucky also. (Houston's) best player hit some balls out that she usually puts in there."

Johnson collected a double-double with 10 digs to go along with her kill total, while sophomore Angela Hlavaty provided a double-double of her own with 10 kills and 10 digs to go along with seven block assists. Senior Amanda Huntoon added 12 kills for the Lady Eagles.

"It was one of the greatest wins of my career at Southern Miss and (being a senior) I am not ready to be done with volleyball," said Johnson. "We played together today and every huddle we had out there was about coming together and playing as one. We had great chemistry out there that helped us win."

After splitting the first two games, the Lady Eagles jumped out to a 7-1 advantage and had their biggest lead of the game at 22-14, but the Cougars (13-15) were able to tie the game at 28-28.

Johnson rallied the Lady Eagles by then posting two straight kills to capture game three and put Southern Miss ahead in the match to stay.

In the fourth and deciding game, UH led 14-11 before the Lady Eagles reeled off five straight points which included a kill by Ashley Petrinec, a block assist by Morgan and Hlavaty, a UH kill error and two aces from Katie Matlock.

The Cougars retook the lead later in the game and were ahead 25-21, before Southern Miss crept back into the final game. The Lady Eagles tied the score at both 29-29 and 30-30 and captured the last two points for the match on a pair of kill errors from UH's Erin Rice.

Southern Miss, the No. 11 seed in the event, returns to action Friday, when they take on No. 3 seed UAB at 1 p.m. (CT).

"We've had close matches with UAB," said Coach Luyties. "All the players they put on the court are good with very little weaknesses. We'll have to play near our best, not just against UAB, against all the teams in the tournament to win."

"We're excited to play UAB in this tournament because we think we match up very well against them," Johnson said. "We played them twice this year and both matches went to five games, we lost both but I think it's our time to take the win."