University of Houston Athletics
Volleyball Heads Into Stretch Run
11/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 3, 2005
HOUSTON - The University of Houston volleyball team continues a stretch of five matches over the next 10 days. The Cougars face off against two opponents in Tulsa and SMU it has already played this season. Houston rolled past both opponents only three weeks ago, registering 3-0 sweeps in the Bayou City.
The Cougars (14-9, 9-2 C-USA) sit alone in second place in the league standings after finishing October with an 8-1 record. UH has a two-game cushion over SMU (11-12, 7-4 C-USA) and Tulsa (20-5, 7-4 C-USA). Both schools are extremely tough at home, garnering a combined 11-0 mark in C-USA action this season.
Head Coach Bill Walton picked up his 100th Conference USA victory in a 3-2 battle against Rice. Kariny Ritter carried the Cougars notching a career-high 32 kills to go along with a season-best 20 digs.
C-USA Co-Setter of the Week, Jennifer Hohl, outdueled fellow Co-Setter of the Week, Kristina Hoban of Rice, passing out a match-high 64 assists.
Jaci Gonzalez anchored the back row matching a season-high 35 digs en route to securing a share of the No. 3 spot all-time in career digs with 2,291. The San Antonio native is currently tied with Margie Kolat (Arkansas State, 1991-1994).
Freshman Justine Farmer is having a breakout season for the Cougars. She leads the squad with 13 double-doubles and has reached the 20-kill mark a team-high five times this season.
Most recently, Farmer slapped 19 kills to go along with 18 digs last night against Rice. She is second on the squad, racking up 322 kills and 299digs. Her 3.70 kills per game average is 9th in C-USA.
The El Paso native is the only player on the squad cranking out more than three kills in addition to averaging more than three digs per game.
Becca Sartori is proving why she is one of the top middle blockers in Conference USA over the last two seasons. The Houston native has been instrumental on both offense and defense this season for the Cougars.
Sartori has powered home double-digit kills in 17 of 23 matches this season. She leads the Houston offense, ripping a .291 attack percentage and is third on the squad, pounding 291 kills. In C-USA action, Sartori is sixth, connecting on a .325 attack percentage.
She was one of four Cougars to register over a .300 attack percentage against UTEP (Oct. 30) smacking a .304 attack percentage, committing only two errors en route to smashing nine kills on 23 attempts. She knocked home 15 kills on 29 swings for a .379 mark against Rice last time out.
On defense, Sartori paces the Cougars with 86 total blocks, averaging a 0.99 per game rate. In league play, Sartori has bumped that average up to 1.08 blocks per game, ninth in C-USA. She has rejected at least four shots in 12 matches this season and matched a career-best for the fourth time this season, blocking seven shots against the Miners.
"It's going to be a battle against Tulsa, and we know that," Gonzalez said after the Rice match. "They are going to be ready for us like we were ready for UTEP. We just have to go out there and play our style of volleyball."
First serve against the Golden Hurricane is slated for 7pm. Fans can follow the match live on Gametracker clicking on the link on the UHCougars.com homepage.
