University of Houston
Cal State Bakersfield
Volleyball Snaps Skid With Five-Game Win Over CSUB
9/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 5, 2007
Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
HOUSTON -- The University of Houston volleyball team needed five games to knock off Cal-State Bakersfield 3-2 (30-22, 17-30, 20-30, 30-28, 15-13) Wednesday at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
The Cougars (2-3) snapped a three-match losing skid as they started off a streak of five matches in the next four days.
"A victory is always good. (When we were) down 2-1 the other team let up a little bit and we played better in the fourth game. In the fifth game we got down and we could have folded and instead we came back pretty well," head coach Bill Walton said.
Lucy Charuk (Tsawwassen, British Columbia/South Delta) led the way for UH tallying a match- and career-high 21 kills on the evening. The freshman middle blocker also added seven blocks and a pair of service aces.
Justine Farmer (El Paso, Texas/Americas HS) also hit for double-digit kills, ending the night with 14 to go along with 10 digs. Robin Fitzgerald (College Station, Texas/A&M Consolidated HS) finished with a career-best 14 digs and tied a career-high with 44 assists.
"We are trying to get (Robin) to understand how to win and get to be consistent with what she does. Winning tonight will help and because she has been setting the last three matches she is starting to learn," Walton said.
Houston had to stage a late rally in game five, battling out of an early 6-2 hole. After a timeout by head coach Bill Walton to steady the troops, UH came back to knot it up at 10 points apiece. It was nip-and-tuck the rest of the way with three more ties before Houston earned the last two points to go home with the victory.
Game four was equally dramatic as UH ran off to an early 16-6 lead and had to hold on for the 30-28 win after the offense went cold. The Roadrunners nearly overcame a .138 hitting percentage in the game, tying things up at 28-28 before dropping the last two points.
UH trailed in all five games and hit just .167 and .159 in games two and three, respectively. The Cougars hit a match-best .323 in the opening game and tied things up at 20-20, overcoming a four-point deficit and closing it out with a 10-2 run.
The Roadrunners were paced by 17 kills from Rosemary Stribling, 12 from Sarah Norman, 11 from Melissa Myers and 10 from Jodi Hardin. Mystie McNaughton added a match-high 26 digs while Norman tallied seven aces.
Houston is back on the court Thursday at 7 p.m. CDT, taking on UTSA in the Convocation Center.
"We have a good weekend coming up. We don't have any time to practice so we have to get better just from playing," Walton said.
UH will also see action on Friday and Saturday at the CenturyTel Premier in San Marcos, Texas. The Cougars face off against the host Texas State Bobcats at Noon Friday before taking on No. 20 Missouri at 5 p.m. that evening. UH closes out the tournament against Cal State Fullerton at 2 p.m. Saturday.
