University of Houston
<b> Mississippi (Houston Invitational) </b>
Volleyball Pushes Winning Streak to Three
9/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 2, 2005
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HOUSTON - Justine Farmer and Kariny Ritter combined for 43 kills as the University of Houston volleyball team stretched its winning steak to three matches with a four game victory over Ole Miss (30-23, 30-18, 30-32, 30-23) on Friday night at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
"We had to shuffle our line-up a little bit," head coach Bill Walton said. "Tonight we ran a true 6-2 attack. You have to really happy with what Justine is doing for us. She has really stepped it for us."
Farmer paced Houston powering home 23 kills on 47 swings registering a .362 attack percentage, while Ritter smacked 20 kills to go along with a team-high four service aces. Becca Sartori chimed in with 12 kills and four blocks as the Cougars knocked a season-high .353 hitting percentage.
"Jennifer (Hohl) did a really good job spreading the balls around, and keeping everyone involved," Farmer said. "It made it really difficult for the defense to figure out where the ball was going."
Hohl set 34 balls on the evening for the victors, while Kelli Adams dished out 12 assists of her own.
Jaci Gonzalez was her usual self on the back row plucking 25 digs.
With the opening game tied at 20, the Cougars closed out game one with a vengeance on a 10-3 spurt. Farmer smacked four kills during the run as the Cougars came away with the 30-23 victory.
Houston took that momentum into game two scoring 14 of the games first 20 points capped by a kill by Sartori.
"That's the best feeling in the world (looking at open floor)," Sartori said. "When you get up there you look at where the holes are, and you just know that you're going to get it (the kill).
UH registered a season-high .455 attack percentage en route to 30-18 win in the second game. On the flip side, the Houston's defense held Ole Miss to a .048 hitting percentage in the game forcing 11 Rebel attack errors.
Ole Miss (2-1) charged back to take game three, 32-30. At one point, the Rebels were up 29-24, but the Cougars scored five consecutive points to even the game before falling.
"The main thing is we got momentum at the end of that game," Walton said. "Even though we didn't win the game, it was huge to carry the momentum going into the fourth game."
The UH defense once again sparked the Cougars in game four holding Ole Miss to under a .100 attack percentage. Houston pulled ahead in the middle of the game on back-to-back kills by Farmer.
Down the stretch, Houston scored four of its final six points in the 30-23 victory forcing Rebel attack errors.
The Cougars continue Houston Invitational action tomorrow against Arkansas State and Miami. First serve against the Lady Indians is set for 1 p.m. UH will take on the Hurricans in the night cap slated for 8 p.m.
"This is a big tournament," Sartori said. "Everyone is really fired up, and we feel confident about the matches tomorrow."
"Compared to most ACC schools, Miami is a little more athletic," Walton said of the Hurricanes. "They set their middle hitters really high, and it's going to be a challenge for our girls. If we serve really tough, they can't run a lot of offense to their middle hitters, and we'll be in good shape."
Individual tickets can be purchased for $5 inside the Alumni/Athletics Center. UH students get into the match free by showing their Cougar 1Card.
Cougar Bytes
Houston extends its winning streak to three matches ... The Cougars are now 5-1 all-time against Ole Miss ... UH was won all three matches this season in four games ... Houston hit a season-high .353 hitting percentage for the match ... The Cougars also hit for a seaosn-high .455 attack percentage in game two ... Kelly McAnelly didn't play sitting out tonight's match with an injury snapping her 67 consecutive match streak ... This was the first time in her Cougar career that McAnelly didn't make an appearance in a match ... Kelli Adams returned to the Cougar starting line-up for the third time this season... Kariny Ritter is the only Cougar with double-digit kills in all four matches ... Dating back to last season, Ritter now has a double-digit kills streak of seven matches ... Justine Farmer surpassed the 20-kill mark for the first time in her young Cougar career ... Farmer now has double-digit kills in three straight matches ... Becca Sartori pushed her double-digit kills streak to three matches ... Zuela Adom converted on six of nine swings for a career-high .667 attack percentage ... Jaci Gonzalez continues her amazing back row play extending her 20 + dig streak to seven matches dating back to last season ... Gonzalez has tallied 30 or more digs in four of those seven matches.
