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University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
@ Saint Louis
Gonzalez Reaches The Top
11/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2004
Saint Louis, Mo. - The Houston all-time career record for digs came crashing down Thursday night in Saint Louis as junior libero Jaci Gonzalez broke the five-year old mark of 1,602 digs with her second of 12 digs on the evening.
For the past three season, Gonzalez has led the Cougars in digs and digs per game, set the top three single season dig marks and now holds the illustrious top spot for a career. But she is quick to acknowledge that she couldn't be at the top without the play of her teammates.
"I just go out there and try to get a dig. That is my only real role, to play defense and stop the kills," said Gonzalez. "I have to give credit to the blockers because they channel the ball to where I am at, I couldn't do it without them."
In the home finale against Rice on Tuesday, Gonzalez fell two digs shy of breaking the record on the Cougars' home floor. Not much to worry about her own stats, she wasn't even aware of how close she was to the record.
"I really didn't know what that mark was at," said Gonzalez. "I knew I had to be close, but I didn't know the actual figure."
Well the actual figure now stands at 1,621 and counting.
But the excitement of the milestone was tempered by a 3-0 loss that the Cougars suffered at the hands of the Billikens, and dropped Houston to 5-7 in Conference USA competition.
Leading all players with a match high 15 kills was sophomore Kelly McAnelly for the Cougars, as senior Loure Dews and sophomore Becca Sartori added 12, and senior Mirela Vasconcellos posted a double-double with 23 assists and 12 digs.
The games were all within the Cougars' reach as the team out killed Saint Louis 57-48, and set a season high for blocks by out stopping the Billikens 12-10.
Houston fell in the three-game match 30-27, 30-25, and 30-28.
The Cougars travel to Memphis for the final regular season C-USA matchup before the conference tournament next Saturday. The two teams square of at 7:00 p.m. in Memphis.
