University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Towson
Volleyball Turns Tables on Towson in Season Opener
8/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 26, 2006
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TOWSON, Md. - Becca Sartori crushed 20 kills on a .444 attack percentage to lift the University of Houston volleyball team to a 3-2 comeback victory over Towson (26-30, 31-29, 24-30, 30-24, 15-9) Saturday afternoon at the Towson Invitational. It was the season opener for both teams at the Towson Center.
Sartori was joined on the outside by Kelly McAnelly and Justine Farmer, who both posted double-doubles for the Cougars (1-0). McAnelly slapped 18 kills and 13 digs, while Farmer notched 14 kills and 20 digs for the victors. It was only the second time that Farmer has reached the 20-dig mark in her career.
Kelsey King distributed a match-high 58 assists and Ashley Calhoun corralled 19 digs at libero. Both players made their Cougar debuts in the starting lineup. Millicent Martin added 10 digs for Houston.
Towson (0-1) was led by Kimberly Snider's 57 assists and 20 digs. Maddie Haseltine paced the Tiger attack with 17 kills, while Alysha Fanning added 11 kills and a match-best 10 blocks for the hosts.
The match went to a deciding fifth game after the two teams split the first four games. At 6-6, the Cougars turned up the defensive intensity, forcing back-to-back attack errors from Haseltine. Houston followed with kills from McAnelly and Kinsey Cave to push the advantage to 10-6, forcing Towson to call a timeout.
Houston continued to put the pressure after the timeout, getting five of the next eight points to close out the comeback victory at 15-9. The Cougars racked up an impressive .444 attack percentage in game five as King set a balanced attack, receiving kills from five different players.
Towson grabbed control of the match early, riding a .351 attack percentage to a 30-24 opening game win. The Tigers went up 29-24 in game two after a Snider kill and were one point away from taking a 2-0 advantage. Houston dug deep and stormed back behind four kills from Sartori, stealing game two 31-29 to even the match.
The momentum would be short-lived as Towson recovered to take game three, 30-24. The Tiger front row controlled the third game with 5.5 blocks and held Houston to a .062 attack percentage.
The Cougars bounced back in game four as Sartori and McAnelly combined for 10 kills. Houston also used a critical five-point run on Calhoun's serve capped by an ace to put Houston ahead 24-18. The Cougars held off Towson to force a deciding game five, 30-24.
UH improves to 14-7 and has won four of its last five season openers under head coach Bill Walton. Walton is now two wins shy of reaching 400 wins at Houston. He is attempting to become the third coach at Houston to react that milestone, joining former basketball coach Guy V. Lewis and current baseball manager Rayner Noble.
The Cougars return to action later this afternoon against No. 23 Ohio State. First serve is on-tap for 4pm against the Buckeyes at the Towson Center.
Cougar Notes
Saturday marked the first time that Houston and Towson have met on the volleyball court ... It was the first time since the 2003 season that the Cougars have opened the season outside the city of Houston ... Houston has won 14 of 21 season openers and four of its last five opening acts under head coach Bill Walton ... The Cougars improve to 1-1 on Aug. 26 in the Walton era ... Houston lost a 3-0 decision to Wichita State open the 2005 season on Aug. 26 ... Walton is now two wins away from becoming the third Houston coach to reach 400 wins at UH ... He is attempting to join former basketball coach Guy V. Lewis and current baseball manager Rayner Noble as the only Cougar coaches to reach 400 wins at UH ... Kelsey King, Ashley Calhoun and Sunshine Misa-Uli all debuted in the Houston starting lineup ... Kinsey Cave and Lauren Dobbs also made their Cougar debuts off the bench ... Becca Sartori has reached double-digit kills in 38 of her last 48 matches dating back to October of the 2004 season ... Sartori has also knocked a .250 attack percentage or better in 11 of her last 13 outings going back to mid-October to last season ... Sartori is now 105 kills away from breaking into the Top 10 in program history and 229 kills shy from reaching the Top 30 in the Conference USA record book ... Sartori is also three block assists away from reaching the Top 10 in program history and is now 36 total blocks away from the Top 30 in Conference USA history ... With 18 kills, Kelly McAnelly is now 17 kills away from breaking into the Top 10 in program history ... McAnelly is also 132 kills shy from reaching the Top 30 in Conference USA history ... The Houston native is 74 attempts away from the No. 3 spot in the Houston record book ... Justine Farmer has recorded double-digit kills in 11 of her last 13 matches, including seven consecutive outings dating back to last season ... Farmer is now 71 kills away from reaching 500-career kills.
