University of Houston Athletics
Volleyball Releases 2006 Schedule
6/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
June 30, 2006
 | "We're excited about the upcoming season. For us to be successful, we'll have to find a way to move on without Jaci Gonzalez's leadership, the only libero our program has ever known, in addition to executing the finer points of the game." Head Coach Bill Walton |
2006 Houston Volleyball Schedule (PDF)
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HOUSTON - University of Houston volleyball head coach Bill Walton announced the Cougars 2006 schedule Friday morning. The Cougars are coming off an 18-12 season and a second-place finish in Conference USA. Houston dropped a 3-2 decision in the C-USA Tournament final against Marshall.
"We're excited about the upcoming season," Walton said. "For us to be successful, we'll have to find a way to move on without Jaci Gonzalez's leadership, the only libero our program has ever known, in addition to executing the finer points of the game."
Houston will face off against three squads that made the NCAA Tournament a season ago, including Ohio State (Aug. 26) in the opening weekend of the season at the Towson Tournament. The Cougars will also match up with host Towson (Aug. 26) and Robert Morris (Aug. 27).
"Our opening weekend is very challenging and we're going to have to be ready to play right out of the box," Walton said. "Ohio State speaks for itself as a solid Big 10 program but Towson and Robert Morris are both solid as well coming off of strong seasons."
The Cougars will continue its three weekend road trip heading to up the road to Waco (Sept. 1-2) following that up with a weekend stop in Nacogdoches (Sept. 8-9). Highlighting those tournaments are a pair of matches against former Southwest Conference rival Baylor (Sept. 2 and 9) along with tilts with New Mexico (Sept. 1) and Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 9).
Houston will return home for its first matches at the Athletics/Alumni Center when it hosts Southland foes Texas-San Antonio (Sept. 14), Texas State (Sept. 15) and McNeese State (Sept. 15, 16) to conclude the preseason.
"Even though our preseason schedule isn't loaded with NCAA Tournament teams like in the past, our schedule only has three teams in Baylor (15-17), Louisiana-Monroe (15-16) and Arkansas State (11-19) without a winning record from last season," Walton said. "Starting the season with three weekends out on the road will make our team mentally tough for conference play."
 Kelly McAnelly returns from injury after garnering a C-USA Third-Team selection in 2004.  | |
The Cougars start C-USA action with five of its first seven league matches at home opening the C-USA slate at Memphis (Sept. 22) and conclude the opening weekend of conference play back at home against UAB (Sept. 24). Houston didn't face Memphis and UAB last season due to Hurricane Rita.
Houston continues its homestand against C-USA semifinalists UTEP (Sept. 29) and Tulane (Oct. 1) before a much-anticipated, mid-week matchup at crosstown foe Rice (Oct. 4).
The Cougars hook up with Southern Miss (Oct. 6) and UCF (Oct. 8) before leaving the Bayou City for the first time in 20 days, embarking on a four-game roadtrip with return trips to Tulane (Oct. 13) and UTEP (Oct. 15).
Houston then will get a crack at revenge at defending C-USA champion Marshall (Oct. 20), which was 9-0 last season at home. The Cougars finish the four-game roadie at East Carolina (Oct. 22).
Houston concludes the conference season with a pair of matches against Tulsa (Oct. 27, Nov. 12) and SMU (Oct. 29, Nov. 10) along with its second tilt at home against Rice (Nov. 2).
Hofheinz Pavilion will host the Conference USA Tournament (Nov. 16-19) for the first time since 2001 as the league's automatic bid to the NCAA's will be up for grabs.
"We're glad to be hosting the conference tournament," Walton said. "Having the tournament in Houston worked to our advantage last season and we're hoping to duplicate that success."
Houston will head out to the Golden State for the first time since 2003 after the C-USA Tournament for the Bankers Classic at Pacific (Nov. 24-25) to conclude the regular season.
The Cougars return AVCA All-America Honorable Mention selection Becca Sartori in addition to Justine Farmer, a C-USA All-Freshman squad member a season ago. Houston will also get back a healthy Kelly McAnelly, who was a C-USA Third-Team performer in 2004.
