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University of Houston Athletics
Volleyball To Host Southern Miss, Tulane In C-USA Action
9/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 22, 2011
HOUSTON - After a 3-0 sweep of the Rice Owls on Tuesday night, the University of Houston volleyball team will look to improve its 1-0 Conference USA record this weekend when it plays host to Southern Miss and Tulane at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
Houston opens the weekend at 7 p.m., Friday against Southern Miss and closes with a 1 p.m. match Sunday with Tulane.
Both matches this weekend will be available for fans to view through the All-Access site at UHCougars.com. In addition, the Gametracker links for both matches will be available on the volleyball schedule page.
The Cougars (8-3; 1-0 C-USA) opened league action with a win over the Owls and have won five of their last six matches, including three-straight wins. Junior Katie Norris posted a career-high 17 kills in the win over the Owls and freshman Natalie Keck tied a career-high with 26 digs.
In addition to career nights from Norris and Keck, senior Lucy Charuk continues to move up the career record charts. With two solo blocks against the Owls, Charuk moved into ninth place in the UH record books. She is fifth in block assists (342) and seventh in total blocks (405). Charuk is the school's career record holder with a .352 hitting percentage.
Norris leads the team with 117 kills, while Charuk has a team-best .364 hitting percentage. Keck continues to lead the team in digs with 169 and freshman Caitlin Ogletree has a team-high 410 assists.
ABOUT SOUTHERN MISS
The Golden Eagles enter the weekend with a 6-6 overall record after going 2-1 last weekend at the Husky Classic in their final non-conference tournament of the season. Friday's match marks Southern Miss' C-USA opener.
Halie Ecker leads the team with 134 kills and Lauren Sears has a team-best .321 hitting percentage. Kelsea Seymour is averaging 10.02 assists per set and four Golden Eagles have at least 100 digs.
Friday's match marks the 24th meeting all-time between the two programs, with Houston holding an 18-5 lead in the series. Last season, the Cougars went 2-0 against Southern Miss, defeating the Golden Eagles 3-1 in back-to-back matches at the AAC.
ABOUT TULANE
Houston closes out the weekend with a match against Tulane. The Green Wave is 5-6 overall this season and 1-3 in its last four matches.
Cori Martone is hitting .365 with 100 kills to lead the Green Wave. Mel Mendelbaum paces the team with 206 assists, while Lilly Wolfe has 153. In addition, Nikki Osuna is averaging 4.35 digs per set to lead Tulane.
The Cougars are 24-9 all-time against Tulane, having gone 1-1 last season against the Green Wave in New Orleans. The last meeting between the two teams in Houston resulted in a 3-2 Cougar win on Oct. 2, 2009.
UP NEXT
Houston will continue C-USA action when it travels to Tulsa for a 7 p.m. match on Sept. 30. The Cougars will then close out the weekend at SMU on Oct. 2. The match is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
