University of Houston
Rice
Volleyball Comes Up Short at Rice
10/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 4, 2006
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HOUSTON - Justine Farmer cranked a career-best 31 kills but the University of Houston volleyball team dropped a 3-2 marathon decision to Rice (30-27, 26-30, 32-34, 30-23, 12-15) in a Conference USA match Wednesday evening at Autry Court that took 2 hours and 36 minutes.
Farmer went over the 30-kill mark for the first time in her young career, surpassing the 700-kill mark. The sophomore also corralled 20 digs, marking the sixth time that Farmer notched over 20 digs this season.
"It's hard to have a career-high and lose," Farmer said. "There was a lot of energy in the building. We let it get to us in certain situations. When it's tight, I think we get more hectic. We try to do other people's jobs. We need to calm down and play our game. We lost tonight because we didn't play our best."
Krystal Schulle passed out 60 assists to along with 15 digs for the Cougars (12-9, 3-2 C-USA), tallying her fourth double-double in her last seven outings. Kelly McAnelly chipped in 15 kills and 13 digs. The Houston native now has 1,292 career kills and moved into the Top 30 of the Conference USA career kills list. McAnelly is four kills away from Bridget Files (Southern Miss, 2000-2003) for the No. 29 spot.
Ashley Calhoun anchored the back row, sprawling out for a career-high 29 digs, while Becca Sartori tallied seven kills and five blocks. Sartori moved past Karen Bell (1988-1991) for the No. 7 spot in program history on the career kills list. The Houston native now has 1,196 career kills and is 29 shy of Julie Gates (1986-1989) for the No. 6 spot.
With five blocks, Sartori also moved into the Top 30 of Conference USA career blocks list. She has 337 career blocks and is five blocks away from Leslie Newell (Cincinnati, 2000-2004) for the No. 28 slot.
Natalie Bogan paced Rice (9-10, 2-3 C-USA) with a career-best 19 kills, while Tessa Kuykendall added 17 kills and six blocks. Jennifer McClean tacked on 16 kills and 20 digs for the victors.
Rachel Lopez, reigning C-USA Setter of the Week, dished out a match-high 69 assists to go along with 16 digs. Yvette Kirk corralled 34 digs after being named C-USA Defense Player of the Week earlier in the week.
The deciding game featured eight ties and four lead changes. Houston took an 11-10 advantage on Millicent Martin kill, but Rice responded with a 5-1 run to close out the match, 15-12.
"I take full responsibility for this match," head coach Bill Walton said. "We weren't really ready to play another midweek match, and we didn't come over with a full amount of energy. We haven't been good over here at Rice in recent years."
The Cougars bounced back after falling behind 2-1. At 14-14 in the fourth game, Houston reeled off five consecutive points capped by a pair of Owl attack errors. The Cougars ballooned the spread out to 27-20 and forced a deciding fifth game with a 30-23 win.
Houston was in prime position with a 29-26 game three advantage, but Rice battled back to even the score at 29-20 with kills from Holderness and McLean in addition to a Farmer attack error. After three ties, Holderness gave Rice a 33-32 edge and a McLean ace clinched the game for the hosts.
"We have a couple of key players who we expect to want the ball in critical situations," head coach Bill Walton said. "Instead, at critical times we're tipping balls right to (the opponent). We have to be ourselves all the time. We have a Houston personality, and when we play with it, we're good. When we don't play with it, we struggle."
Houston controlled the tempo from the outset leading the opening game from start to finish. The Cougars took a 9-4 advantage on a Sartori kill. Rice charged back and got within a point on five separate occasions, but Houston had an answer each time, earning a 30-27 win.
Farmer racked up seven opening game kills on a .462 attack percentage. Calhoun reeled in 10 dig anchoring the back row, while Rice recorded three blocks on the front row.
The Cougars looked poised to take a two-game lead, grabbing an early 6-2 spread in game two. Houston capitalized on three Rice errors, including a pair of Lopez ball-handling errors. The Owls regrouped to even the score at 17-17 and then went on an 11-3 spurt to go ahead 28-20. The Cougars fought back to 29-26 but a McLean kill gave Rice a 30-26 victory.
"We have to have a short memory after this," Farmer said. "Coach Walton reminded us that this was one of 16 conference games. Our plan is practice hard tomorrow to get ready for our weekend matches back at home."
Houston returns to the Athletics/Alumni Center against Southern Miss and UCF this weekend. First serve against the Golden Eagles is scheduled for 7pm Friday, while at 1pm tilt Sunday afternoon is on tap against the Golden Knights.
Cougar Notes
Tonight's match was the 66th all-time meeting between Houston and Rice on the volleyball court ... The Houston-Rice series is the longest of any opponent for the Cougar volleyball program ... Houston still holds a 54-12 advantage in the all-time series, but the Owls have won seven of the last nine meetings dating back to the 2002 season ... Ashley Calhoun has reeled double-digit digs in 12 of her 17 starts at libero this season... Calhoun sprawled out for a career-best 29 digs ... The Wisconsin native's ace streak was snapped at four consecutive C-USA matches ... Justine Farmer powered home a career-best 31 kills and added 20 digs for her team-leading 13th double-double of the season ... The El Paso native went over the 700-career kills mark ... She has crushed double-digit kills in 23 of her last 25 matches she has played in dating back to last season ... It was the sixth time this season that Farmer has recorded over 20 digs in a match ... With 15 kills, Kelly McAnelly now has 1,292 career kills and is 45 shy from Emily Leffers (1993-94, 1996-97) for the No. 4 position in program history ... The Houston native moved into the Top 30 of the Conference USA career kills list ... McAnelly is four kills away from Bridget Files (Southern Miss, 2000-2003) for the No. 29 spot ... With 59 attempts, McAnelly is 628 swings away from Debbie Vokes (1994-98) for the top spot in that category ... Becca Sartori tallied seven kills and now has 1,196 kills moving past Karen Bell (1988-91) for the No. 7 position on the career kills list ... The Houston native is 29 shy of Julie Gates (1986-1989) for the No. 6 spot ... Sartori pulls within 96 kills from reaching the Top 30 in the C-USA record book ... With five blocks, Sartori also moved into the Top 30 of Conference USA career blocks list ... She now has 337 career blocks and is five blocks away from Leslie Newell (Cincinnati, 2000-2004) for the No. 28 slot ... Sartori also is nine blocks from reaching Karina Faber (1990-92) for the No. 8 slot in the Houston record book ... With four block assists, Sartori passed Latisha Charles (1986-87, 1989-90) for No. 7 slot ... She has 294 block assists and is eight away from Karina Faber (1990-92) for the No. 6 hole.
