University of Houston Athletics
Volleyball starts C-USA play Friday night
10/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 1, 2003
HOUSTON, Texas - The University of Houston volleyball team starts Conference USA play Friday night in Hattiesburg Mississippi against the 15-3 Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Saturday night against Tulane (13-2). The start of conference play also has the Cougars looking to turn things around for the season.
The Cougars (4-10) have battled though injuries for the early part of the season, but head coach Bill Walton said he believes his team has what it take s to be competitive in C-USA play. Despite their youth and health problems, he said the Cougars are learning to adjust and play with what they have available to them.
"If you look at what we thought we were going to have back in the summer, and at what we have now, right now we're missing three starters," Walton said. "We are short one attacker so we don't have any backups for the girls that are hurt, so we're trying to find the best combination of players to play. We're trying to cover all the positions to do what we need to do to be successful. We were fairly successful against Ole Miss and Texas A&M when we made our first adjustments, then we played Texas and we didn't play well, so it's hard to establish it."
When Houston takes the court Friday night against the Golden Eagles, they will be facing more than just a solid volleyball team.
"I think the toughest place to play in Conference USA is at Southern Miss," Walton said. They play in a little rec-center gym, so I think we're opening up in the toughest place. It's loud, it's noisy, it's obnoxious and we're struggling with our situation. We have enough skill to win, but you have to have a really solid attitude.
Walton said this opening weekend of conference play is critical for the Cougars if they are going to get confidence they need for the remainder of the season.
"Neither team that we play this weekend out-mans us," he said. "The difference is that we're struggling to make adjustments and we need a confidence boost. Coming away from this weekend 2-0 would do a huge amount for our confidence. What we don't need to do is doubt our abilities. We need a confidence boost and a couple of victories would go a long way towards that. It won't be easy playing on the road, but it would go a long way."
