University of Houston Athletics
Volleyball Preps For Trip To Kentucky
9/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 8, 2011
HOUSTON - The University of Houston volleyball team will travel to Lexington, Ky., for its final non-conference tournament of the 2011 season. The Cougars will participate in the UK Invitational, Sept. 9-10, on the campus of the University of Kentucky.
The Cougars are looking to improve off their 4-2 start to the season after winning the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup to kick off 2011 and then going 1-2 last weekend at the State Farm Classic against tough competition.
Houston will open tournament play against West Virginia at 10 a.m. Friday and continue against Kentucky at 6 p.m. The Cougars will close out the weekend against Loyola Marymount at 4 p.m. Saturday.
All matches will be available through Gametracker, with the match against Kentucky set to be streamed live on the Wildcat All-Access site.
Through the first two weekends of the season, senior Lucy Charuk leads the team with a .315 hitting percentage, while junior Katie Norris has a team-high 67 kills. Freshman Caitlin Ogletree continues to pace the Cougars with 210 assists and freshman Natalie Keck has a team-high 73 digs.
ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA
Houston kicks off tournament play against West Virginia. The Mountaineers are 2-6 this season after a trip to the state of Texas that included matches against UTSA, Texas State and Baylor. West Virginia went 2-3 during the opening weekend of the season and is 0-3 in their last three matches.
Kylie Armbruster leads the team with 70 kills and Kari Post has tallied a team-best 219 assists.
Friday's match marks just the second meeting all-time between the two programs. Houston won the first meeting 3-1 in 1987.
ABOUT KENTUCKY
The Cougars continue tournament play Friday against their host, Kentucky. The Wildcats are 6-2 on the season after a win against in-state rival Louisville Wednesday night. They played host to the Kentucky Classic last weekend and went 3-0 to win the tournament.
Ashley Frazier paces the team with 65 kills, while Elizabeth Koberstein and Christine Hartmann have at least 100 assists for the Wildcats. In addition, Gretchen Giesler leads the team with 21 blocks.
Houston and Kentucky have met 10 times on the volleyball court, with the Cougars holding a 6-4 advantage. In the last meeting between the two schools, Houston came away with a 3-0 win at the UCF Thanksgiving Tournament in 2002.
ABOUT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
The Cougars close out tournament play against Loyola Marymount at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Lions are 4-2 entering the weekend after going 2-1 last weekend at the Active Ankle Challenge at Oregon State. LMU defeated Seattle and Cal State Bakersfield in the tournament.
Jasmine Rankins leads the team with 75 kills and Olivia Bailey has a team-high 186 assists. Four players have at least 30 digs for the Lions with Betsi Metter leading the way with 69.
LMU has become a regular opponent of the Cougars as they have met in each of the last two seasons. Houston trails the all-time series, 1-3, after winning their first match against the Lions, 3-0, last season at the BYU Molten Classic.
UP NEXT
Following the UK Invitational, the Cougars will return to Houston for a match against Lamar at 7 p.m., Sept. 13 at the Athletics/Alumni Center. It will be the final non-conference match for UH before opening Conference USA action against Rice on Sept. 20.
