University of Houston
<b> Tulsa
Volleyball Derails League-Leader Tulsa
10/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 27, 2006
Tulsa at Houston Box Score (PDF)
Download Free Acrobat Reader
HOUSTON - Justine Farmer ripped 20 kills and added 18 digs as the University of Houston volleyball team blew past league-leader Tulsa (30-21, 30-22, 30-27) Friday evening in a Conference USA match in front of a season-high 518 fans at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
"The energy and atmosphere is really what pulled us through," Farmer said. "It's a fun environment when the stands are packed and kids are screaming for you. You want to play good for them not just your team. It was awesome to have that support tonight."
The El Paso native reached the 20-kill plateau for the ninth time this season en route to her C-USA leading 18th double-double of the season.
"Justine has to do that for us every night," head coach Bill Walton said. "The big thing for her tonight is that she cut down on her errors. I told her not to be afraid of attacking the block. No one can stop her when she hits her shots with confidence."
"Coach Walton pulled me aside after missing my first shot and told me to challenge the block," Farmer said. "That's what I was thinking all night and it really sunk in."
The Cougars (16-11, 7-5 C-USA) also got a double-double from Krystal Schulle, who passed out a match-best 38 assists to go along with 10 digs.
Kelly McAnelly added 14 kills moving past Kelly Trimble (Southern Miss, 1998-2001) and Brittany Barnett (Memphis, 2000-2003) on the C-USA career list. McAnelly now has 1,356 career kills and is 14 kills shy from Andrea Bush (Southern Miss, 2000-2003) for the No. 25 position.
Ashley Calhoun recorded 17 digs to anchor the back row. The Wisconsin native also fired in four aces. Becca Sartori chipped in eight kills, while Erin Rice tallied six blocks.
"Calhoun was able to get her serve back on track," Walton said. "We put targets out there at practice and emphasizing serving more this week and it paid off for us."
Julia Silva fueled Tulsa (22-6, 9-3 C-USA) with 31 assists and 10 digs. Germana Hilario notched 10 kills as the Golden Hurricane was held to a .195 attack percentage for the match.
Houston fell behind 6-0 in the opening game, but fought back to draw even at 9-9 on a Sartori ace. The Cougars surged ahead 19-13 behind a pair of Calhoun aces. The Golden Hurricane drew within 23-20, but a trio of Farmer kills closed out game one, 30-21.
The Cougars continued to ride the right arm of Farmer, who powered home 12 kills in game two. Houston led wire-to-wire in the 30-22 victory.
Tulsa took the early momentum out of the locker room, grabbing a 12-6 advantage behind a two blocks from Hilario and Ivana Krejcirova on Farmer. The Cougars regrouped and caught Tulsa at 26-26. The two teams traded side outs before a block from Farmer and Rice put Houston ahead for good. A Schulle service ace off a Tulsa rotation violation ended the match, 30-27.
"We were really pumped up tonight," Farmer said. "We wanted to prove to ourselves and the rest of conference that we can beat anyone,"
Houston returns to the court to take on SMU Sunday afternoon. First serve against the Mustangs is on tap for 1pm.
"The hard thing is coming off playing the first place team in conference," Walton said. "It's tough to get fired up, but hopefully we won't let our overconfidence get the best of us."
Cougar Notes
Tonight's victory gives Houston a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series against Tulsa ... The Cougars improve to 9-1 in the Athletics/Alumni Center this season ... Houston has won nine of its 11 matches via the sweep with Krystal Schulle at setter ... The Cougars have won 40 of its last 48 matches dating back to November 2003 when winning game two ... Houston is 11-3 in three-game matches and is 12-0 when winning the first two games of a match ... Ashley Calhoun has reeled in double-digit digs in 16 of her 23 starts at libero ... Erin Rice has recorded five or more blocks in six matches this season ... Five of the six efforts have come in C-USA action ... Justine Farmer has reached double-digit kills in 30 of her last 32 matches, including her last 16 outings, dating back to last season ... The El Paso native reached the 20-kill plateau for the ninth time en route to picking up her C-USA leading 18th double-double of the season ... Farmer is 31 kills away from reaching 900-career mark ... She also is 59 digs shy of reaching 800 ... Krystal Schulle racked up her ninth double-double of the season, dishing out 38 assists to go along with 10 digs ... With 14 kills, Kelly McAnelly moved past Kelly Trimble (Southern Miss, 1998-2001) and Brittany Barnett (Memphis, 2000-2003) on the C-USA career kills list ... McAnelly now has 1,356 career kills and is 14 shy of Andrea Bush (Southern Miss, 2000-2003) for the No. 25 position ... The Houston native is 50 kills away from Jennifer Wittenburg (1999-2001) for the No. 3 spot in program history ... With 39 attempts, McAnelly is 453 swings away from Debbie Vokes (1994-98) for the top spot in that category in the Houston record book ... Becca Sartori added eight kills and now has 1,263 career kills ... Sartori is 73 kills away from Emily Leffers (1993-94, 1996-97) for the No. 5 position in the Houston record book ... Sartori also pulls within 29 kills from reaching the Top 30 in the C-USA record book ... With one block, Sartori needs three block assists to match Marie-Claude Tourillon (1994-1996) for the No. 5 slot in program history ... The Houston native now has 361 career blocks and is 13 from reaching Janet Goreham (DePaul, 2001-2004) for the No. 23 position in the C-UA record book ... Sartori is 24 total blocks from Tourillon for the No. 8 hole in the UH record book.
