Volleyball Rolls By East Carolina; Walton Gets 600th Career Win
Oct. 22, 2005
East Carolina - Houston Box Score (PDF)
HOUSTON - Kariny Ritter powered home 22 kills on aseason-best .452 hitting percentage as the University of Houston volleyball team charged past East Carolina (30-21, 30-22, 30-25) on Saturday night at the Athletics/Alumni Center. "In the past we been known to regroup and come back strong on the second day of back-to-back matches," libero Jaci Gonzalez said. "We wanted ECU to pay for what happened last night against Marshall." The win for UH (11-9, 5-2 C-USA) was the 600th career victory for head coach Bill Walton, who becomes only the 12th coach in NCAA history to reach that feat. The Houston offense was clicking on all cylinders knocking a .381 team attack percentage for the match, its second best output of the season. Jennifer Hohl distributed a match-best 44 assists, while Gonzalez anchored the back row with a match-high 15 digs. "My performance was horrible yesterday," Hohl said. "It was key for us to bounce back and not let yesterday linger." Justine Farmer smacked 12 kills to along with nine digs on a .393 attack percentage. The El Paso native was only one dig shy of her team-best 11th double-double. Becca Sartori added seven kills and four blocks. Two freshman got into the act as Akilah Grant-Sullivan cranked out a career-best four kills on four swings, and Megan Martin registered her first career-digs as a Cougar. "Akilah played great," Walton said. "She was a little nervous out there, but Jen giving her that ball with a little lead allowing her to get a good smack on it took that away. She got a couple of blocks at the end and that's what we need." The two teams opened the match trading blows in the early part of game one. A kill from Pam Ferris got ECU (13-9, 4-5 C-USA) within 8-6, but Houston would go onto to score 11 of the next 15 points, opening up a 19-10 advantage. During the run, four different Cougars registered kills. That would be all the momentum needed for UH to take the opening game, 30-21. "It was key for us to come out hard and strong," Farmer said. "We needed to get rid of that frustration because we didn't do as well as we could have yesterday." Houston would once again use a spurt in the middle of game two building an 18-12 lead capped by a Farmer kill. The Pirates would cut the deficit to four points on three seperate occasions, but UH had an answer each time taking a two-game advantage into intermission, 30-22. Game three was an offensive showcase as both squads registered match-highs. It also featured seven ties and four lead changes. East Carolina grabbed a 22-21 lead on a kill by Erica Wilson. After a Houston timeout, the Cougars scored five straight points aided by three Ritter kills never looking back closing out the match, 30-25. Ferris paced all Pirate hitters with 11 kills, while Mignon Dubenion added 10 kills. Houston continues a five-match homestand next weekend against Tulane and UTEP at the Athletics/Alumni Center. "We have to come out and stay focused," Gonzalez said. "We know what they can do and we know what we can do. We have to play within ourselves and get the job done." First serve against the Green Wave gets underway at 7pm. The Cougars defeated Tulane earlier this season in College Station, 3-1. Cougar Bytes:
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