University of Houston
<b> Tulsa </b>
Volleyball Steamrolls Tulsa, 3-0
10/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 9, 2005
 | "We played very well this weekend considering the circumstances of playing next door at Hofheinz on Friday night. We brought the intensity from next door back here today." Setter Jennifer Hohl |
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HOUSTON - The University of Houston volleyball completed an impressive weekend rolling past Tulsa (30-21, 31-29, 30-13) on Sunday afternoon at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
"Our Achilles heel at times have been how we start games," head coach Bill Walton said. "We are our best when we come ready to play from the beginning and this afternoon we did that. Some people talk about bouncing back from losing as being hard, but I think bouncing back after winning is harder because you feel you have to avenge your performance after a loss."
The Cougars (8-8, 3-1 C-USA) have strung together three consecutive conference wins over the regular season for the first time since the 2002 season.
"We played very well this weekend considering the circumstances of playing next door at Hofheinz on Friday night," setter Jennifer Hohl said. "We brought the intensity from next door back here today."
Hohl fueled the Houston attack as the team registered a .328 attack percentage for the match. The Tulsa defense entered the weekend tops in Conference USA holding opponents to a .143 attack percentage.
The Indiana native picked up a double-double dishing out 37 assists to go along with 14 digs. She was also effective knocking six kills on eight attempts for a career-best .750 attack percentage.
Kariny Ritter nailed 17 kills on a .333 attack percentage to go along with six blocks, while Becca Sartori powered home 10 kills on 20 attempts without an error for a scorching season-best .500 attack percentage.
Defensively, Houston held Tulsa to a .099 attack percentage for the match, including a -.048 percentage in game three. The Golden Hurricane (15-3, 2-2 C-USA) offense entered the weekend with No. 2 offense in C-USA.
 Jaci Gonzalez is now No.6 all-time in career games played.  | |
Four Cougars picked up double-digit digs led by Jaci Gonzalez who stretched out for a match-high 21. Justine Farmer and Millicent Martin joined Gonzalez and Hohl adding 11 and 10 digs, respectively.
The Cougars controlled the match from the beginning scoring eight consecutive points in the opening game firing out to an early11-2 advantage. During the run, the UH front row forced four Tulsa attack errors. The Golden Hurricane chipped away getting within 25-19 before Houston closed out the game, 30-21.
Houston had to come from behind to win game two, 31-29. The Cougars were down 26-23 at one point, but a couple of Tulsa attack errors as well as a key block from Ritter and Zuela Adom lifted Houston ahead, 30-29. A Farmer kill on the next point gave the Cougars a two-game lead going into the locker room.
The early stages of game three went back and forth featuring five ties and four lead changes. A kill by Ritter gave Houston the lead for good at 6-5. The Cougars closed out the match in style scoring 25 of the final 33 points en route to a 30-13 win.
"I think we finally learned the lesson that if we win the first two games, we have to keep the same intensity in game three," Hohl said. "There is more at stake now once you get into conference play. We have a history of great volleyball as coach (Walton) says in practice. We need to play at that level every time we step on the court."
Houston heads back on the road for a Friday night tilt against Southern Miss. First serve is slated for 7pm in Hattiesburg. The Cougars conclude the weekend roadie against conference newcomer, UCF, on Sunday afternoon in Orlando.
Cougar Bytes:
This afternoon was the first ever meeting between Houston and Tulsa on the volleyball court ... UH has started conference play 3-1 for the second consecutive season ... The win for the Cougars is its third consecutive conference win over the regular season; the last time Houston did that was in 2002 ... Houston is 3-4 this season in three-game matches ... The Cougars are 6-0 this season when winning game two ... The 30-13 victory in game three was the largest of the season ... The .328 attack percentage was the second best on the season only behind the .353 output against Ole Miss (Sept. 3) ... Head coach Bill Walton is now three wins away from reaching 600 career victories ... Jennifer Hohl has recorded a double-double in four of her last six matches ... The Indiana native surpassed the 600 assist mark for the season ... The .750 attack percentage for Hohl was a career-high ... Kariny Ritter has knocked double-digit kills in nine consecutive matches, including ripping at least 15 kills in seven of her last nine ...The Cougars are 5-2 this season when Ritter leads in kills ... With six blocks, Ritter joined Becca Sartori with over 50 blocks ... On the flip side, Sartori joined Ritter and Farmer with over 200 kills this season ... The .500 attack percentage was a season-high for Sartori ... Sartori is also 51 block assists away from reaching the top 10 in the Cougar record book ... Jaci Gonzalez has sprawled out for over 20 digs in seven of her last eight matches ... Gonzalez also moved into to No. 6 all-time in career games played ... Millicent Martin has picked up double-digit digs in three consecutive matches.
