University of Houston Athletics
Cougar Volleyball Ready for Home Opener
9/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 14, 2006
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HOUSTON - After three weekends and 11 matches on the road, the University of Houston volleyball team opens the home slate with the Conference USA/Southland Conference Volleyball Challenge this weekend inside the friendly confines of the Athletics/Alumni Center. The Cougars have tilts scheduled with Texas-San Antonio, McNeese State and Texas State.
Houston is coming off a 0-4 mark at the Austin Bank SFA Invitational last weekend. Three of the four setbacks came in five games, but head coach Bill Walton is confident that his squad will play better at home this weekend.
"If you're going to have a 0-4 weekend, the best place to be the next week is at home," Walton said. "We need to make sure that the frustrations and indignity of going 0-4 when you believe you were going to go 4-0 is a motivation for really being focused this weekend."
Houston enters the weekend with a 25-3 record against this weekend's opponents with 24 of the 28 meetings coming against Texas State. UH is 22-2 all-time against the Bobcats, including a 3-1 victory in San Marcos last season. Becca Sartori and Justine Farmer ripped 16 kills apiece in the win. When Houston meets Texas State Friday night, Walton will square off against fellow 600 club member, Karen Chisom.
This weekend marks the first time since 1977 that Houston and McNeese State will meet on the volleyball court, while the Cougars have won two of three all-time meetings with Texas-San Antonio.
The Cougars are 9-12 on these dates in the Walton era. Houston has won five of eight matches on Sept. 14. The Cougars 0-4 all-time on Sept. 15 but have not played a match on this date since 2000, while Houston registers a 4-5 record on Sept. 16.
After being named to the 2005 Conference USA All-Freshman Team, Justine Farmer is ready to prove that there is no such thing as a sophomore slump.
The El Paso native notched a pair of double-doubles at the Austin Bank SFA Invitational. She powered home 23 kills and added a career-best 38 digs against SFA (Sept. 9). The 38 digs in a match was the third-most in Cougars history, only behind a 42 and 39 outings from Jaci Gonzalez (2002-05).
Only a sophomore, Farmer has already reached 500 career kills and 500 career digs. She has reached the double-digit kills mark in the last 14 of her last 16 matches she has played in dating back to last season.
With 36 kills at the Austin Bank SFA Invitational, Kelly McAnelly moved past Karen Bell (1988-91) for the No. 6 spot all-time. The Houston native enters this weekend's action with 1,219 career kills and is five away from equaling Julie Gates (1986-89) in the No. 5 slot. She is also 61 kills from moving into the Top 30 of Conference USA history.
Becca Sartori joins McAnelly on the prowl of chasing down career marks in the Houston and Conference USA record books.
She slapped 18 kills on a .536 attack percentage against Arkansas State (Sept. 8). The Houston native is 31 kills away from breaking into the Top 10 in program history and 172 kills shy from reaching the Top 30 in the C-USA record book.
With nine block assists a weekend ago, Sartori is 18 away from matching Latisha Charles (1986-87, 1989-90) for No. 7 all-time. She is also 13 total blocks away from the Top 30 in C-USA history.
Kelsey King has settled into her role at setter in her first season at Houston. She struggled at the Austin Bank SFA Invitational (Sept. 8-9), dishing out only 10.22 assists per game after feeling under the weather at the Austin Bank SFA Invitational. She's ready to get back on track in her home debut this weekend.
"I'm excited about the weekend and finally getting a chance to play at home," King said. "We're all starting to feel better, and we're excited about being back at full strength."
Sunshine Misa-Uli joins the Houston volleyball team after earning NJCAA All-America Second-Team honors at Barton County Community College in Kansas last season.
The native Hawaiian has been coming on strong lately, notching a pair of 13-kill outings against Tennessee State (Sept. 8) and Baylor (Sept. 9) last weekend at the Austin Bank SFA Invitational. Misa-Uli also will compete on the Houston basketball team for head coach Joe Curl this season.
After missing the first three matches of the 2005 season, Millicent Martin found herself as a regular in the Cougar rotation.
Martin already has notched double-digit digs four times this season. She reeled in 13 digs against Tennessee State (Sept. 8) after pulling in two double-digit efforts to start the season at the Towson Invitational.
First serve against the Roadrunners is on tap for 7pm. Houston faces off against McNeese State and Texas State to conclude the tournament. Live stats will be available all weekend at UHCougars.com
