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University of Houston Athletics
Volleyball Concludes Preseason in South Carolina
9/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 16, 2005
Volleyball Week 4 Notes (PDF)
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HOUSTON - After beginning its five game road trip 1-2 last weekend at the Kansas State Invitational, the Cougar volleyball team concludes back-to-back weekends away from the Bayou City heading east to South Carolina.
The Cougars face yet another weekend of tough matches against foes from the SEC (South Carolina) and reigning champions of the Southern Conference (College of Charleson). CofC is the fifth NCAA Tournament squad from a season ago that UH has already faced this season.
"We've played so many matches and we've got some answers to what we to do, we won't have time to experiment in these five matches," head coach Bill Walton said . "With very little preperation time, we'll just be able to prepare."
Houston opens the weekend against South Carolina with first serve slated for 5pm local time in Charleston. This is the first of five matches in a nine day stretch for UH. The Cougars then square off against other breed of Cougars, College of Charleston, on Saturday afternoon at 2pm.
The Cougars enter the weekend 2-0 all-time against this weekend's opposition. Houston has swept South Carolina both times the schools have squared off. The last time that UH faced off with South Carolina was back in 1993.
Saturday afternoon will mark the first time that UH and CofC hook up on the volleyball court.
The Conference USA office announced on Tuesday afternoon that Jaci Gonzalez and Kariny Ritter were dubbed two of C-USA's 22 Players to Watch for the upcoming season.
Ritter is coming off matching a career-high with 23 kills in a five-game victory over Florida State at the KSU Invitational last time out. She also accounted for five solo blocks against the Seminoles. The Brazilian headlines the Houston offense with 157 kills, and is fifth in C-USA averaging 4.13 spikes per game. She was also named C-USA Player of the Week after recording consecutives double-doubles to start the season at the Houston Tournament.
Gonzalez enters the weekend only two digs shy of reaching 2,000 for her career. The San Antonio native would be only the 13th player in NCAA history to reach that feat. She already holds the Houston record for career digs, and is second on the Conference USA carrer list after the second weekend of her senior season. She moved into that spot with a 30-dig performance against Texas Tech on August 27th. Gonzalez is 76 digs away from holding the C-USA mark.
Becca Sartori is proving why she is one of the top middle blockers in Conference USA over the last couple of seasons.
The Houston native has been instrumental on both offense and defense. Sartori has powered home double-digit kills in eight of her last nine matches. Against Florida State to conclude last weekend, Sartori connected for 21 kills, only three shy of her previous career high. Sartori started the afternoon connecting on 18 kills a .385 attack percentage committing only three errors on 39 swings.
On defense, Sartori paces the Cougars with 37 blocks averaging a 0.97 per game rate. She matched a career-high with seven blocks two weekends ago against Miami. Sartori reached that feat earlier this season against Stephen F. Austin, and has blocked at least three shots in eight of her last nine matches.
A trio of freshman have made an instant impact for head coach Bill Walton.
Freshman Justine Farmer has every match for the Cougars posting double-doubles in five of the 10 matches. UH is 3-2 this season when Farmer puts together a double-double. Against No. 24 Kansas State last Saturday, Farmer blasted 15 kills and pulled out 11 digs. The El Paso native followed that up with a 15 kill and 14 dig performance in the night session against Florida State.
Kelli Adams has also seen time in the starting line-up. Adams has dished out double-digit assists in six of her nine matches, including 22 assists in a five game win over the Seminoes.
After missing a majority of last season with an injury, Zuela Adom is making up for lost time. For the second consecutive weekend against an ACC opponent, Adom popped eight kills on 15 attempts against FSU. She also rejected two shots against the Seminoles. Her athleticism is uncanny forcing the opposition to change shot selection in mid-air with her leaping ability.
"It's not just this weekend that's hard," Walton said. "It's this weekend plus the three matches (Rice, Memphis, UAB) next week. All of them are right on top of each other.
Houston returns to the Athletics/Alumni Center to open Conference USA play against crosstown foe and preseason favorite, Rice, on Wednesday night. First serve against the Owls is scheduled for 7pm.
