University of Houston Athletics
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<b> UTEP </b>
Ritter Leads Volleyball to Senior Day Triumph Over UTEP
10/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 30, 2005
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HOUSTON - Kariny Ritter ripped 18 kills, while Justine Farmer added 13 kills to go along with team-high 17 digs as the University of Houston volleyball team swept UTEP (30-20, 38-36, 30-22) on Sunday afternoon for Senior Day at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
"It was a little emotional before the match," libero Jaci Gonzalez said. "We stayed focused and got to pay back UTEP for what they did to us at the beginning of the conference season at their place."
Before the match, Gonzalez along with Ritter, Jennifer Hohl and Cinthia Piva were honored for Senior Day.
"This group of seniors have been excellant and wonderful to coach," head coach Bill Walton. "Three of the four are junior college transfers (Ritter, Hohl and Piva), but it feels like they have been here for all four years."
The double-double for Farmer is her team-leading 12th of the season. Piva and Becca Sartori powered home nine kills apiece for the victors.
Hohl tacked on a match-high 43 assists, while Gonzalez sprawled out for 16 digs moving past Becky Dreher (Oral Roberts, 2001-04) for No. 6 all-time on the NCAA digs list.
"Jaci does more for this team than any other coach or player," Walton said. "She's a grandma, mother and an assistant coach to the girls, in addition, to being a teammate. When you have a winning team, that's the kind of leadership you have."
Houston (13-9, 7-2 C-USA) charged out of the gates and took control of the match early knocking a season-best .529 attack percentage in the opening game.
Ritter slapped eight kills on 13 swings, while Farmer connected on all four of her swings. Hohl passed out 16 assists as the Cougars cruised to a 30-20 win.
"We looked pretty calm and we were under control that opening game," Walton said. "Their loss at Rice really took a lot out of them on Friday night, and it carried over to today."
Game two was a dogfight that featured 20 ties and seven lead changes. Four UTEP (15-9, 5-6 C-USA) service errors in the 30's allowed Houston to stay in the game before the fourth service error coupled with a Miner ball handling error as well as an attack error allowed the Cougars to emerge with a 38-36 victory.
Houston used an 11-3 spurt in the middle of the third game to clinch the match. During the run, four different Cougars reeled off kills to open up a 26-16 advantage.
The Miners cut the deficit to within six at 28-22, but back-to-back kills by Ritter and Hohl gave Walton his 99th C-USA victory.
Houston concludes its five-match homestand against crosstown rival, Rice (15-7, 6-5 C-USA), on Wednesday night.
"It's a big in-city rivalry," Gonzalez said. "We can't make one game any bigger than the other because we saw what happened a couple of weeks ago against Marshall when we did that. We need to stay within ourselves and play hard."
"Our goal is sweep out and win our next five matches," Walton said. "That would put us in good shape heading into the conference tournament."
First serve against the Owls is slated for 7pm at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
Cougar Bytes
Houston has won four of the five all-time meetings against UTEP ... The Cougars conclude the month of October with an 8-1 record ... Houston is now 6-4 in three-game matches this season ... The Cougars have won five consecutive three-game matches ... Head coach Bill Walton is only one win shy from reaching 100 Conference USA victories ... Kariny Ritter has reached double-digit kills in 15 consecutive matches ... She has ripped at least 15 kills in 12 of her 15 outings ... Houston is 10-3 this season when Ritter leads in kills ... Cinthia Piva knocked a season-high nine kills on a season-best .333 attack percentage ... Justine Farmer registered her team-leading 12th double-double of the season ... The 13 kills allowed Farmer to join Ritter as the only Cougars with over 300 kills on the season ... With seven total blocks, Becca Sartori equalled a season-best for the third time this season ... The Houston native is is now 27 block assists away from reaching the Top 10 in the Cougar record books ... With 43 assists this afternoon, Jennifer Hohl is two assists away of reaching her total of 889 from a season ago ... Hohl is also 52 assists from moving into the No. 9 hole all-time in the Houston record books ... 16 digs this afternoon allowed Jaci Gonzalez to pass Becky Dreher (Oral Roberts 2001-04) on the all-time digs list for No. 6 all-time ... The San Antonio native has now played in 442 career games; she is 12 games away from the No. 4 spot held by Michelle Frazier (1997-2000).
