University of Houston
Tulane (C-USA Semiinals)
Volleyball Flies Into C-USA Finals
11/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 20, 2005
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HOUSTON - Jennifer Hohl fueled three Cougars to double-digit kills and a .372 team attack percentage as the University of Houston volleyball team ended Tulane's Cinderella run with a 3-0 victory (30-20, 30-22, 30-27) in the semifinals of the C-USA Tournament on Saturday night at Autry Court.
Hohl racked up her 11th double-double, registering a match-best 49 assists to go along with 12 digs. Eight of Hohl's 11 double-doubles have come against C-USA opponents. The senior setter also passed Amie Roberts (1991-1992) for No. 8 all-time in the Houston record books.
"After having 10 days off going into our match against SMU, I was a little nervous," head coach Bill Walton said. "With a layoff like that, sometimes its hard to come back. But last night and today, the team looks it did opening the season. They have that kind of enthusiasm on the court."
Houston (18-11) advanced to the C-USA Championship match for the first time since 1997, snapping a four-match C-USA semifinal losing streak. The Cougars will square off against top-seeded Marshall on Sunday afternoon with first serve slated for 4pm Central and a CSTV national telecast. UH students get into the C-USA Championship for free by showing their Cougar 1Card.
The Cougar defense set the tempo of the match holding the Tulane offense to a .175 attack percentage, including a match-low .102 clip in the opening game.
"We knew what we they wanted to do coming in, and we didn't let them get off to a good start," Walton said. "We didn't let them get any momentum going, and that's what they did in the first two games they played was get the momentum on their side."
All-Freshman performer Justine Farmer led the Houston hitters for the second consecutive matches, slapping 15 kills on a .355 attack percentage. The El Paso native was one dig shy from picking up her team-best 16th double-double.
Farmer also wore No. 14 for the second consecutive match after misplacing her usual No. 8 jersey before Houston's quarterfinal match with SMU.
Kariny Ritter added 14 kills and a team-high five blocks, while Becca Sartori chipped in 10 kills on a .444 attack percentage. The Cougars also got solid performances from Kelly McAnelly with nine kills and Zuela Adom ripping six kills of her own. Jaci Gonzalez sprawled out for a match-best 19 digs.
The Cougars took an early 14-7 lead in game one after consecutive kills by Farmer coupled with a kill from Sartori. Houston stretched the advantage rolling comfortably to a 30-20 opening game win. Ritter smashed eight kills on 11 swings without an error.
Houston's defense held C-USA Freshman of the Year, Sara Radosevic to only two kills in game one and forced her to commit three attack errors.
"We knew they've been playing well coming in, and we knew they were going to play hard," Farmer said. "We came out strong and didn't let them get going."
The Cougars opened up a four-point lead on five separate occasions to begin game two. Tulane charged back from 20-16 cutting the deficit down to 20-18 after a Radosevic kill. Houston pulled away with a 9-2 spurt capped by a Ritter kill allowing the Cougars to carry a two-game lead into the locker room.
Tulane (5-16) didn't go down without a fight in game three. The Green Wave sliced a five-point deficit down to a pair at 29-27 after consecutive kills from Radosevic. The Cougars closed out the match with a kill from Farmer sealing Houston's spot in the C-USA Championship.
Houston turns its attention to top-seeded Marshall (25-5) and C-USA Player of the Year Kelly-Anne Billingy. The Thundering Herd erased a 2-0 deficit for the second consecutive day. This time against UTEP in the first semifinal earlier Saturday. Billingy tied a C-USA Tournament individual record popping 37 kills on a .471 attack percentage.
"We just have to come out and stay within ourselves," Gonzalez said. "We have to worry about our side of the net, and take care of business. This is our chance to reach one of our goals we set at the beginning of the season, and that was to win conference."
First serve against the Herd is slated for 4pm with a live national telecast on CSTV. CSTV is Ch. 610 on DirecTV. Chris McGee will do the play-by-play, while Holly McPeak will provide color for the broadcast. Marshall defeated Houston, 3-1 (20-30, 26030, 30-27, 28-30) in the squad's only meeting in the Bayou City back on Oct. 21.
"We feel good about our ourselves," Walton said. "And our chances to win against Marshall."
Cougar Bytes:
Houston improves to 5-0 as a No. 2 seed at the C-USA Tournament ... The Cougars snap a four-match C-USA semifinal losing streak; Houston's last semifinal came with a 3-0 sweep over St. Louis in 1997 ... UH knocked off Tulane for the third time this season ... It's the second consecutive night that the Cougars have beaten opponent for the third time ... Houston also improves to 8-5 this season in three-game matches and are 11-0 when winning the first two games of a match ... Jennifer Hohl put together her 11th double-double, dishing out a match-best 49 assists to go along with 12 digs ... Eight of Hohl's 11 double-doubles have come against C-USA squads ... Hohl also moved into No. 8 all-time in the Houston record books for assists passing Amie Roberts (1991-1992) ... The senior setter now has 2,124 career assists ... Justine Farmer wore No. 14 for the second consecutive match after misplacing her jersey before the quarterfinal match against SMU ... Farmer led the Coogs for the second consecutive night racking up 15 kills ... The El Paso native became the second Cougar joining Kariny Ritter with over 400 kills for the season ... Ritter has knocked double-digit kills in the last 20 matches she has played in ... She has ripped at least 15 kills in 15 of those 20 outings ... With five blocks, Ritter becomes the second Cougar joining Becca Sartori with over 75 blocks this season ... Jaci Gonzalez has now played in 468 career games; she is four games away from the No. 2 spot held by Sami Sawyer (1993-1996) ... Zuela Adom ripped six kills on a .500 attack percentage ... Houston is 10-3 this season when Adom attacks at over a .200 clip ... Becca Sartori has tallied double-digit kills in 22 of 29 matches ... She is now six block assists away from reaching the Top 10 in the Houston record books ... The Houston native is also 10 kills away from reaching the 1,000 plateau for her career ... Kelly McAnelly added nine kills on a season-best .421 attack percentage ... She is now 41 kills away from breaking into the Top 10 in the Cougar record books.
