University of Houston
<b> Tulane </b>
Volleyball Slips By Tulane
10/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 28, 2005
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HOUSTON - Kariny Ritter paced three Cougars with doubles-doubles powering home 21 kills to go along with 12 digs as the University of Houston volleyball team strolled past Tulane (30-25, 28-30, 30-26, 30-25) on Friday night at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
"We came out all right, but then we got a little lackadaisical going out into the second game," setter Jennifer Hohl said. "We were able to get refocused and got the job done."
"We were in control of the match in terms of siding out the entire time," head coach Bill Walton said. "Tulane has a pretty good team. They are a lot better than their record indicates and they could make some noise in the conference tournament with the talent they have."
Houston (12-9, 7-2 C-USA) has won seven of its last eight matches. With Tulsa's loss to Marshall earlier tonight, the Cougars are now in sole possession of second place in the Conference USA standings.
Justine Farmer added 20 kills and 17 digs, while Hohl dished out a match-high 59 assists as well as equalled a career-best registering 18 digs.
Akilah Grant-Sullivan made her first start tonight in the Cougar line up posting a career-high five kills and five total blocks. Fellow freshman Megan Martin found her way into the rotation contributing her first career service aces.
"I've been telling Akilah all week that she needed to step up for us," Hohl said. "She did a good job in the middle for us."
"Megan served really tough tonight," Walton said. "That's what we need heading into this key stretch of matches."
With the match all square at one game each, the two teams traded blows to open the third game. Tulane (2-10, 1-8 C-USA) held a brief 13-12 lead, but the Cougars battled back with a 4-0 spurt thanks to back-to-back kills by Ritter to take a 16-13 advantage.
The Green Wave trimmed the deficit to one on six occasions, but Houston had an answer with big side out after big side out. Houston held a 26-25 edge and used a 4-1 run to end the game, 30-26.
UH used that momentum back to grab 10 of the first 16 points in game four, but the Green Wave charged back to even the game at 13. The Cougars once again called upon a 4-1 rally to retake an 18-14 advanage capped by consecutive Tulane attack errors.
The Green Wave dug deep to tie it up at 22, but it was Houston who closed the match on an 8-3 spurt, 30-25. Millicent Martin picked up the final two kills for the Cougars.
Houston returns to the hardwood Sunday afternoon for Senior Day against UTEP. First serve against the Miners is slated for 1pm. UH lost a 3-0 decision earlier this season at UTEP on Sept. 30.
"We're definitely are looking forward to playing them because of what they did to us in our first meeting," Hohl said. "If we execute our gameplan we should come out on top."
Cougar Bytes
Houston has won 18 of the 22 all-time meetings against Tulane ... The Cougars sweep the regular season series with the Green Wave for the first time since 2001 ... Houston is now 7-1 in the month of October and 5-3 in four-game matches ... Head coach Bill Walton is now two wins away fromo reaching 100 Conference USA victories ... Akilah Grant-Sullivan earned her first start of the season tonight ... Grant-Sullivan responded with a career-best five kills and five total blocks ... Fellow freshman Megan Martin powered home her first career service aces ... Kariny Ritter has reached double-digit kills in 14 consecutive matches ... She has ripped at least 15 kills in 11 of her 14 outings ... With 55 attempts, Ritter becomes the first Cougar to go over 1,000 attempts on the season ... It was also Ritter's eighth double-double this season, and the eighth time that Ritter has eclipsed the 20-kill plateau ... Houston is 9-3 this season when Ritter leads in kills ... Ritter has now powered home 366 kills this season, passing her total of 359 from last season ... With 12 digs, Ritter becomes the third Cougar to go over 200 digs this season ... Justine Farmer registered her team-leading 11th double-double of the season ... Farmer has now slapped 20 or more kills five times this season ... With three block assists, Becca Sartori is the first Cougar to reach 75 total blocks on the season ... Sartori is now 32 block assists away from reaching the Top 10 in the Cougar record books ... With 59 assists tonight, Jennifer Hohl is 45 assists shy of reaching her total of 889 from a season ago ... Hohl is also 95 assists away from moving up to the No. 9 position in the UH record books ... The Indiana native added her sixth double-double of the season matching her career-best 18 digs as well as going over 800 assists for the season ... Four of Hohl's six double-doubles have come in conference play ... Jaci Gonzalez is six digs away from passing Becky Dreher (Oral Roberts 2001-04) on the all-time list for No. 6 all-time ... The San Antonio native has now played in 439 career games; she is 15 games away from the No. 4 spot held by Michelle Frazier (1997-2000).
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