University of Houston Athletics
Volleyball Opens Conference Play
9/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2006
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HOUSTON - The University of Houston volleyball team opens its 11th season of Conference USA action Friday night at Memphis before returning home Sunday afternoon to take on UAB.
The Cougars are 8-2 all-time in Conference USA openers but have lost two of their last three decisions. This is the first time that the Cougars have opened with Memphis in league action.
"It's a split weekend which is always a challenge," head coach Bill Walton said. "Memphis is a strange place to play, and only two of our seniors (Becca Sartori and Kelly McAnelly) have played there before. If we control the tempo early, we won't notice their crowd. Our goal is to be 2-0 at the end of the weekend."
Houston enters the weekend with a combined 31-6 record against this weekend's conference opponents. The Cougars have not faced Memphis or UAB since the 2004 season due to Hurricane Rita which cancelled last season's meetings.
UH is 18-5 all-time against Memphis, but the Tigers have won the last three meetings. The last Houston win in the series came in 2002 at Memphis.
The Cougars have dominated the all-time series with UAB, winning 13 of the 14 meetings between the two schools. Nine of the 13 wins have come by a 3-0 decision.
Houston is coming off a 4-0 mark at the Conference USA/Southland Conference Challenge a weekend ago. The Cougars won three of their four matches in three games and hit over a .300 attack percentage in seven of 13 games.
With 18 kills at the Conference USA/Southland Conference Challenge (Sept. 14-16), Kelly McAnelly passed Julie Gates (1986-89) for the No. 5 spot in program history. The Houston native enters this weekend's action with 1,237 career kills and is 99 away from equaling Emily Leffers (1993-94, 1996-97) in the No. 4 hole. She is also 43 kills from moving into the Top 30 of Conference USA history.
McAnelly tallied five kills on nine swings without an attack error off the bench against Texas State (Sept. 15). She also posted 10 kills at a .316 mark against McNeese State (Sept. 15).
After the Texas State match, Walton talked about how valuable McAnelly was coming off the bench against the Bobcats.
"Everyone will tell you that you can't put a value of having someone who can come off the bench and be your sixth man," Walton said. "In basketball, if you're playing badly when they come in, the sixth man can change the momentum of the game. If you're playing good, the sixth man can give you a boost."
Becca Sartori joins Kelly McAnelly on the prowl of chasing down career marks in the Houston and Conference USA record books.
She crushed 12 kills on a .400 attack percentage against Texas State (Sept. 15). With 39 kills at the Conference USA/Southland Challenge (Sept. 14-16), the Houston native broke into the Top 10 in program history. She now has 1,147 career kills and is 11 away from matching Nashika Stokes (1993-96) for the No. 8 spot. Sartori also is 133 kills shy from reaching the Top 30 in the C-USA record book.
With eight block assists over the weekend, Sartori is 10 away from matching Latisha Charles (1986-87, 1989-90) for No. 7 all-time. She also is nine total blocks away from the Top 30 in C-USA history.
The Cougars have compiled a Conference USA leading 28 double-doubles this season. Justine Farmer is tied for the C-USA lead with Tulsa's Kassiana Urnau racking up 10 double-doubles. Farmer is followed by Kelly McAnelly and Kelsey King, who have five apiece.
Sunshine Misa-Uli and Krystal Schulle each recorded three double-doubles at the Conference USA/Southland Conference Challenge (Sept. 14-16).
After being named to the 2005 Conference USA All-Freshman Team, Farmer has been proving there is no such thing as a sophomore slump.
The El Paso native notched a trio of double-doubles at the Conference USA/Southland Conference Challenge (Sept. 14-16). Two of Farmer's three double-doubles came in three-game matches as she posted 5.38 kills and 4.38 digs per game.
Farmer slapped 18 kills on a career-best .471 attack percentage against McNeese State (Sept. 15) and concluded the weekend against the Cowgirls with a 22-kill performance in addition to sprawling out for 27 digs.
Only a sophomore, Farmer has already reached 600 career kills and 500 career digs. She has reached the double-digit kills mark in the last 18 of her last 20 matches she has played in dating back to last season.
Schulle stepped in for an injured Kelsey King and dished out 14.08 assists per game at the Conference USA/Southland Conference Challenge (Sept. 14-16). It was the first time Schulle has started at setter since high school.
The Lockhart native fueled the Houston offense to 17.46 kills per game on a .281 team attack percentage. The Cougars attacked over a .300 percentage in seven of the team's 13 games.
In Schulle's first game against UTSA (Sept. 14), Houston powered home 20 kills on 30 attempts with only two errors for a season-best .600 attack percentage.
"You always have nerves but Coach Walton told me to go out there and have fun," Schulle said. "The passing made my job easy all weekend."
Schulle racked up three double-doubles and passed out a career-best 61 assists and added 11 digs in the weekend finale against McNeese State (Sept. 16).
Misa-Uli has come on strong lately, notching career-bests with 23 kills and 18 digs against McNeese State (Sept. 16). The native Hawaiian has recorded double-digit kills in four of her last five matches and has posted a double-double in three of her last four outings.
"I wish all of our players had Sunshine's attitude," head coach Bill Walton said. "She's like a boxer who jumps up every time she gets knocked down. She goes after every ball and doesn't mind hitting the floor."
Ashley Calhoun and Erin Rice are two Cougar freshmen looking to make an instant impact in 2006.
Calhoun has reeled in double-digit digs in nine of her 13 starts at libero. She paces the squad with 207 digs. The Wisconsin native has also made two starts at outside hitter, knocking home 16 kills against Tennessee State (Sept. 9) in addition to 11 kills on a .320 attack percentage against Louisiana-Monroe (Sept. 2).
Rice has made the most of her limited action. She earned a start against McNeese State (Sept. 15) and fired in five kills on a .375 attack percentage to go along with four blocks. In 26 games, Rice has registered 24 blocks.
First serve against the Tigers is on tap for 7pm in Memphis. Houston concludes the weekend Sunday afternoon against UAB with a 1pm tilt at the Athletics/Alumni Center. Live stats for the Memphis match will be available at UHCougars.com
