Volleyball Concludes Four-Match Conference Road Swing
10/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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Oct. 19, 2006
HOUSTON - The University of Houston volleyball team concludes a four-match road trip at Marshall and East Carolina this weekend. The Cougars are coming off a 2-0 weekend at Tulane at UTEP.
"It's a hard trip for us," head coach Bill Walton said. "We've never been to Marshall and only a couple of our players have gone to East Carolina before. It was good to start the road trip for us last weekend, but there are still a couple of things we can improve on."
Houston enters the weekend with a combined 6-2 record against this weekend's conference opponents. The Cougars fell to Marshall but defeated East Carolina during the regular season at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
UH is 0-2 all-time against Marshall, including a 3-2 setback in the Conference USA championship match last season. Kelly-Anne Billingy paced Marshall with 28 kills, but it was Amber Sims' 19 kills on a .615 attack percentage that carried the Thundering Herd to the C-USA title. Marshall won the regular season meeting 3-1, as Billingy notched 24 kills on a .367 attack percentage and held UH's Kariny Ritter to 12 kills on a .163 clip.
The Cougars have won all six previous meetings with East Carolina, including a 3-0 victory last season to give head coach Bill Walton his 600th career victory. Kariny Ritter powered home 22 kills on a career-best .452 attack percentage, while Justine Farmer added 12 kills as Houston connected on a .381 attack percentage for the match.
"We haven't been a good road team, so it was good for us to finally step up," Farmer said. "It gives us more confidence to get back on the road this week."
With 19 kills last weekend, Kelly McAnelly enters this weekend's action with 1,318 career kills. She has closed to within 18 kills of equaling Emily Leffers (1993-94, 1996-97) for the No. 4 position in program history. The Houston native also is 29 kills from moving into the No. 27 spot in Conference USA history.
After being named to the 2005 Conference USA All-Freshman Team, Justine Farmer has been proving there is no such thing as a sophomore slump.
The El Paso native headlines the squad and C-USA with 17 double-doubles this season, including a current streak of five consecutive matches. She already has surpassed her double-double total from a season ago.
Farmer has reached double-digit kills in 27 of her last 29 matches dating back to last season. She is the only player in C-USA to be in the Top 10 in kills and digs per game. Farmer ranks fifth in C-USA, averaging 4.44 kills per game and is seventh in the league, posting 3.92 digs per contest. She also is sixth in C-USA, notching 4.93 points per game.
Farmer cranked 25 kills to go along with 26 digs at UTEP (Oct. 15). She has reached the 20-kill mark in seven matches and the 20-dig plateau eight times.
Only a sophomore, Farmer has already fired in 806 career kills and 709 career digs. She enters the weekend 24 kills and 19 digs from matching her totals from last season.
Krystal Schulle has stepped in nicely for an injured Kelsey King at setter. This season is the first time since high school that Schulle has played the setter position.
The Lockhart native has fueled the Cougars to a 10-3 record, dishing out 12.74 assists per game. Her 12.24 assists per game in C-USA matches is fourth best in the league. The Houston offense has posted 15.60 kills per game on a .223 team attack percentage with Schulle at setter. Schulle has racked up seven double-doubles, including 58 assists and 11 digs at UTEP (Oct. 15).
Becca Sartori joins McAnelly on the prowl of chasing down career marks in the Houston and Conference USA record books.
After popping 19 kills last weekend, Sartori moved past Julie Gates (1988-91) for the No. 6 spot in program history with 1,239 career kills. She enters the weekend 79 kills away from matching McAnelly for the No. 5 hole. She also is 57 kills shy from joining McAnelly in the Top 30 in the C-USA record book.
With 13 block assists last weekend, Sartori surpassed Karina Faber (1990-92) for No. 6 all-time in that category. She needs five blocks assists to tie Marie-Claude Tourillon (1994-96) for the No. 5 slot in the Houston record book. Sartori also broke into the C-USA Top 25 career list.
Sunshine Misa-Uli has come on strong lately, recording double-digit kills in four of her last five outings, including a 15-kill and 11-dig performance at UTEP (Oct. 15).
Ashley Calhoun and Erin Rice have made an instant impact in 2006.
Calhoun has reeled in double-digit digs in 15 of her 20 starts at libero. She is second on the squad with 335 digs and is ranked tenth in C-USA, posting 3.76 per game. Calhoun has notched at least 20 digs in three of her last four starts, including a 21-dig effort at UTEP (Oct. 15). The Wisconsin native also has made two starts at outside hitter, knocking home 16 kills against Tennessee State (Sept. 9) in addition to 11 kills on a .320 attack percentage against Louisiana-Monroe (Sept. 2). She paces the team, recording 34 service aces and fired in a career-best five aces at UTEP (Oct. 15)
Rice has made the most of her limited action, but has been a blocking machine in C-USA action, recording 43 blocks in 24 games. She paces the C-USA, posting 1.79 blocks per game in league play. Rice came through with a career-best 14 blocks in a three-game sweep at Tulane (Oct. 13).
First serve against the Thundering Herd is set for 6pm Friday followed by an 11am Sunday start against the Pirates. Live video for the Marshall match will be available on UHCougars.com. CSTV will air the Marshall match on tape delay Sunday at 5pm.
