BATON ROUGE, La. – The Samford Volleyball team suffered a 3-0 loss to the University of Houston in its third and final game of the Tiger Classic on Saturday, Aug, 27.
 
Lauren Deaton and Kenya McQuirter both registered double-digit kill totals, with Deaton logging a game-high 12 and McQuirter finishing with 11. Deaton finished just one dig shy of a double-double with nine.
 
Kayla Keshock distributed a season-high 31 assists while also posting seven digs and three service aces.
 
Gracie Lynn Butler recorded six kills, eight digs, and three blocks while Kate Morgan added nine digs. Kate Wonus finished the day with a team-high four blocks.
 
After falling behind 9-3 to Houston in set one, the Bulldogs fought back to take an 18-17 lead after a block assist by both McQuirter and Butler. After the Bulldogs tied the score at 18-all, the Cougars would score the next four points unanswered to help hold off a late charge from Samford and take set one 25-23.
 
Both teams exchanged points over set two, with the score reading 11-10 in favor of Houston after a kill by Deaton. The Cougars were able to create separation by scoring four straight points to go up 15-11 and would go on to score the final five points of set two to win it 25-14.
 
Set three followed a similar early plot, with Keshock's third and final ace tying the score at 10-all. The Bulldogs stayed within striking distance and got back to just two points down after an ace from Morgan made it 21-19. Cougars. Houston pulled away however by notching four of the game's next six points.
 
"There were a lot of challenges this weekend, but we saw some good growth," Head Coach Keylor Chan said. "I like what we did today. If we had started that way yesterday, maybe we'd be in a different place. There were some good teams, but we expect to be good. We're going to have to work hard this week in practice, learn from all of the things that happened here and be able to put them together so we can be better on the floor over the duration of an entire match."
 
The Bulldogs finished with a season-high 38 kills, in addition to a season-best 34 assists and six aces.
 
Samford volleyball will return to the court on Friday, Sept. 2 for game one of the UAB Open against Little Rock at 4:00 p.m. (CST).
 
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