University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
East Carolina
Wittenburg Leads Cougars to Fourth Straight Win
10/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2001
HOUSTON, Texas - Jennifer Wittenburg blasted 30 kills in only four games to help lead the University of Houston volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Conference USA rival East Carolina on Friday at Hofheinz Pavilion.
The Cougars (9-8, 6-2) won their season-best fourth straight match of the season to stand above the .500 mark for the first time all year.
UH will look to rise even higher on Saturday as it plays host to league foe Charlotte in a 7 p.m. match contest at Hofheinz Pavilion. That matches closes out a lengthy homestand for the Cougars who played five of six matches at home during the stand.
With her match-leading total, Wittenburg also continued her ascent in the Cougar record book. The Houston native leapfrogged into eighth place all-time in school career history with 1,145 kills and needs only 50 more kills to move into the top five leaders. The match also marked the seventh time in her stellar career that she posted 30 or more kills in a match.
But Wittenburg wasn't the only Cougar enjoying a stellar offensive night. If all that Cris Carter does is catch touchdowns for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, then just about all middle hitter Jenny Tanneberger does for the Cougars is put away kills.
Tanneberger finished the night with 16 kills and only one error in 27 chances for a team single-match best .565 attack percentage. It marked the 12th team this season that the San Antonio, Texas, native led the Cougars in that category and was the fifth time that she hit higher than .400 in a match.
Jane Anne Karasek added 12 kills, while Gabi Carbone chipped in with a team-best 10 digs on the defensive front.
UH set the tone for the match early with a six-point rally midway through the first game. Leading only 15-10, UH rattled off the next six points for a 21-10 lead and never looked back.
In the second game, the Cougars used another six-point rally to turn a slim 18-14 advantage into a more relaxing 24-14 lead.
However, East Carolina (4-15, 2-8 C-USA) stormed back to take a nip-and-tuck game three. Neither team managed to string together more than two unanswered points, until the Pirates closed the game with a three-point rally.
That would be as close as the Pirates would get for the rest of the night though. UH jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the fourth and final game and would not lead by fewer than five points the rest of the way.
