University of Houston
Arkansas Tournament - No. 9 Illinois
No. 9 Illinois and Arkansas Down Volleyball
9/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2004
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - At the C&C Services Invitational at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, the Cougar volleyball was defeated in both of their matches on Friday.
On the day, the Cougars faced No. 9 Illinois, who upset No. 1 USC last week before falling to Loyola on Tuesday, and Arkansas, who was also coming off a loss over last weekend.
The Fighting Illini dropped the Cougars in straight games 30-25, 33-31 and 30-16. Despite claiming Game 1 30-23 in the match with the Lady Razorbacks, the Cougars couldn't hold on and Arkansas went on to win the next three games 30-28, 30-26 and 30-28.
With the losses, Houston falls to 1-9 on the season while No. 9 Illinois and Arkansas both get back on the winning track and stand at 4-2 and 2-5 respectively, on the year.
The loss extends the Cougars' losing streak to nine matches, one game fewer than the team record for most consecutive losses dating back to the 1981 season when the Cougars lost 10 straight matches.
In the morning match between the Cougars and Illini, Houston kept the first two games tight falling 30-25 in Game 1 and then lost a heartbreaker in Game 2, pushing Illinois to a 33-31 end.
The Fighting Illini put on a powerful performance in Game 3 and easily closed out the match with a 30-16 win.
Sophomores Kelly McAnelly and Becca Sartori and junior Jaci Gonzalez led the Cougars with their play as McAnelly totaled a team-high 14 kills, while Sartori refused to allow any easy points with five blocked shots (one solo and four assisted) and Gonzalez led all players in the match with 18 digs.
The nightcap match with Arkansas started out in the Cougars' favor as Houston came out with some strength and won the first game 31-23. Game 2 went down to the wire before the Lady Razorback edged out the Cougars 30-28.
Arkansas came right back and reeled off wins in the next three game to secure the match 3-1.
Houston takes on Ball State on Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. to close out the tournament and will then take the week off before playing host to Texas State on Sept. 28.
