University of Houston
Marquette
Volleyball Wins Season Opener Over Marquette
8/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 29, 2008
Milwaukee, Wisc. -- The University of Houston volleyball team opened the 2008 season with a 3-1 win over Marquette Friday night at the Marquette Kickoff Tournament in Milwaukee, Wisc. Houston won the match with scores of 23-25, 25-22, 25-22, and 25-22.
Houston (1-0) was led by senior Justine Farmer's 22 kills on 40 attempts and senior Kelsey King paced the Cougars with 35 assists. Sophomore Amanda Carson added a team-high 12 digs.
UH dropped the first set despite five kills from Farmer but rebounded to win the match with three straight wins in the remaining sets.
The Cougars opened the second set with a service error to give Marquette the 1-0 start but would regain the lead after three-straight points off attack errors from the Golden Eagles. Houston would never lose the lead and go on to even the match, 1-1.
Freshman Nataliya Panova would give the Cougars five kills in the third set as they would move to 2-1 in the match. While the Cougars were out-hit .270 to .280 they would hold on for the win.
With one final chance to even the match, Marquette would record just nine kills as Houston would improve to 1-0 on the season by taking the fourth set, 25-22. Farmer would once again lead the Cougars with seven kills and a .556 hitting percentage.
In the final set of the night Houston would take the lead 1-0 on a kill by Farmer but despite three ties in the set, Houston never fell behind to take the win.
Houston now improves to 16-6 in season openers during the Walton era and 7-5 in road season openers.
The Cougars will continue play in the Marquette Kickoff Tournament Saturday with two games against Tennessee and UT-Chattanooga. Houston will take on the Volunteers at 10:30 a.m. and the Mocs at 4:30 p.m.
