HOUSTON - UC Riverside kicked off the Molly Howard Memorial Tournament on Friday with a pair of matches, falling 3-0 to host Houston Baptist and 3-1 to Louisiana Monroe inside Houston Baptist's Sharp Gym. 

Tournament number two had a more favorable opening feel to it, as UCR brought the energy and fight early on in a back-and-forth affair with the host Huskies. Mylei Vargas-Deason and Delaney Tate eached picked up three kills in the early going as the Highlanders held a 15-13 lead in set one.

Another balanced tempo was the theme of the second set. UC Riverside went on two separate three-point scoring sprees, but that was the extent of a run for either side. UCR pushed last year's NIVC participants to the brink, but fell 23-25 in a hotly contested second set. 

A four-point swing for UC Riverside capped off by two kills from Tate forced HBU to call time in the third set with the Highlanders holding onto a 20-19 advantage, but the Huskies were able to pull through for the win. 

UCR jumped out to a gritty 1-0 set lead against Louisiana Monroe in the back end of two matches after a 9-2 run. ULM tied set one at 23 before Ayanna Kimbrough and Isabella Scarlett put UC Riverside up 1-0. 

Vargas-Deason secured her third 10-kill performance in the Highlanders' first five matches of the season with a match-high 13 kills against the Warhawks, going for a double double after adding 18 digs and two blocks.  

UC Riverside will finish out in Houston on Saturday morning with a 9:00 a.m. first serve against Bethune-Cookman. Live stats will be available on GoHighlanders.com.