University of Houston
Marshall (C-USA Finals)
Volleyball Drops 3-2 Decision To Marshall
11/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 20, 2005
Houston - Marshall Box Score (PDF)
Download Free Acrobat Reader
HOUSTON - Kariny Ritter ripped 21 kills, but the University of Houston volleyball team dropped an epic 3-2 battle to Marshall (26-30, 30-25, 28-30, 30-28, 8-15) in the Conference USA Championship on Sunday afternoon at Autry Court.
"We definitely didn't lose due to a lack of effort," head coach Bill Walton said. "The key was going to be if we were able to maintain our side out efficiency. There were some huge moments in the match, and controlling your adrenaline at critical times can be tough. It went back and forth all day. They (Marshall) just had control of it at the end."
"Sometimes when you want something so much, you try to do everything right," Ritter said. "We played hard. Volleyball is like life. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Today we lost."
Down two games to one, the Cougars (18-12) battled back from a 28-27 deficit in game four, scoring three consecutive points, forcing a deciding fifth game. Houston got kills from Ritter, Kelly McAnelly and Justine Farmer during the spurt.
The momentum stayed in Houston hands as the Cougars jumped out a quick 3-0 advantage in the fifth game capped by a Ritter block, but Marshall responded with a 10-2 spurt to regain control of the match for a 15-8 win for the championship.
"We went out strong in the fifth game, but we had some mental lapses," libero Jaci Gonzalez said. "We kind of fell asleep out there, but we played hard and went after every ball. In this game, the momentum can switch at any time, it just didn't switch for us when we needed it to."
Gonzalez and Ritter were named to the All-Tournament Team for their amazing tournament run. Ritter powered home 50 kills for the tournament, while Gonzalez was outstanding on the back row sprawling out for 70 digs.
Becca Sartori and Justine Farmer also had registered double-digit kills for the Coogs, adding 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Gonzalez anchored the back row, pulling out a match-best 28 digs.
Marshall (26-5) was paced by Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, Kelly-Anne Billingy who racked up 28 kills and 19 digs for the match. Amber Sims provided 19 kills on a match-high .615 attack percentage, while Stephanie Cahill chipped in 12 kills of her own.
The Thundering Herd earned C-USA's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship that starts Dec. 1 and 2 on campus sits. Houston will wait for the possibility of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is slated for next Sunday evening.
Cougar Bytes
This afternoon's match was the first time since 2001 that the C-USA Championship match was not decided in three games; DePaul won a 3-2 decision over Louisville in '01 at Hofheinz Pavilion ... Houston played in its first C-USA Championship since 1997 ... The Cougars drop to 1-2 all-time in C-USA Championship matches and to 5-1 as the No. 2 seed at the C-USA Tournament ... This afternoon was also the first time this season that Houston lost after winning game two; UH had won the previous 13 matches ... Jaci Gonzalez has now played in 473 career games passing Sami Sawyer for the No. 2 slot (1993-1996) in Cougar history ... The No. 1 spot is held by Ashley Mulkey (1990-1993) with 473 career games ... Gonzalez has 2,152 career digs; third in NCAA History ... With 28 digs, Gonzalez has sprawled out for 20 or more digs in 23 of 30 matches ... The senior libero has stretched out for 691 digs on the season; only seven digs shy of her personal best from a season ago ... Justine Farmer wore No. 14 for the third consecutive match after misplacing her jersey before the Cougars quarterfinal match against SMU ... Middle blocker Becca Sartori surpassed 1,000 career kills in the middle of game three ... She has tallied double-digit kills in 23 of 30 matches this season ... With two block assists, the Houston native is only four blocks away from breaking into the Top 10 in the Houston record book ... Kariny Ritter has knocked double-digit kills in 21 consecutive matches she has played in ... The Brazilian has knocked 20 or more kills 10 times this season ... With five total blocks, Zuela Adom became the third Cougar to pass 75 blocks on the season ... Jennifer Hohl's 49 assists this afternoon gives her 2,172 for her career.
