Nov. 4, 2005

Final Stats

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TULSA, Okla. - Kariny Ritter nailed 16 kills to go along with 12 digs, but it wasn't enough as the University of Houston volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision at Tulsa (25-30, 25-30, 27-30) on Friday night at the Reynolds Center.

"We just got to a point in the game where we lost our side out efficiency and our passing and setting fell apart a bit," head coach Bill Walton said. "We didn't execute when we needed to (in order) to side out and then when we lost the lead and needed to score some real points to get back into the match."

Despite the loss, the Cougars (14-10, 9-3 C-USA) are still in sole possession of second place in the Conference USA standings. The Golden Hurricane (21-5, 8-4 C-USA) are all alone in third place due to Rice winning at SMU earlier tonight.

Becca Sartori added 11 kills, pacing UH on a team-best .375 attack percentage in addition to four block assists. During the match, Sartori became the third Cougars to pass the 300-kill mark.

Zuela Adom and Kelly McAnelly returned to the Houston line-up from injury. Adom knocked four kills on 10 swings for a .300 attack percentage after missing the last two matches with an ankle injury. It was McAnelly first action since the opening weekend of the season. The junior outside hitter struggled tallying three kills on 19 swings.

"It's unfortunate the way we had to get her (McAnelly) in tonight when we were playing badly," Walton said. "We wanted to work her in a different situation. Her numbers weren't great but she played okay. She's got to play in some games in order to get in condition to play in the C-USA tournament."

Houston heads into the middle of a five-match stretch over 10 days at SMU (11-13, 7-5 C-USA) on Sunday afternoon at Moody Coliseum.

"We're still in good shape," Walton said. "We just have to win the last two (C-USA) matches and we'll be okay. We have two matches left and Tulsa has three matches left. Anything can happen."

First serve against the Mustangs is slated for 1pm in Dallas.

Cougar Bytes:
Tonight's match against Tulsa was the second all-time meeting between these new conference rivals and Houston's first trip to Tulsa ... The overall series as well as the season series is now all square at 1-1 ... Each team held serve on its home floor registering a 3-0 sweep ... The loss snapped Houston's three game winning streak at five ... The Cougars are now 6-5 this season in three game matches ... Houston falls to 1-7 when losing the first game ... Zuela Adom and Kelly McAnelly return to the Cougar line-up tonight ... Adom had missed the last two matches with an ankle injury ... It was the first action for McAnelly since the opening weekend of the season ... With 16 kills and 12 digs, Kariny Ritter put together her third double-double in her last four matches ... She has reached double-digit kills in 17 consecutive matches and has ripped at least 15 kills in 14 of those 17 outings ... Ritter is now 68 kills away from the 500-mark ... Houston falls to 11-4 this season when Ritter leads in kills ... Justine Farmer had her three consecutive double-doubles streak snapped ... With four block assists, Becca Sartori is now 19 block assists away from reaching the Top 10 in the Cougar record books ... Her 11 kills allowed Sartori to become the third Cougar to pass the 300-kill mark ... The Houston native has notched double-digit kills in 18 of 24 matches ... Jennifer Hohl dished out 35 assists and is now 125 assists shy from 2,000 in her career ... Jaci Gonzalez paced the Cougar back row picking up 20 digs ... The San Antonio native has tallied 20 or more digs in 12 of her last 16 matches ... Gonzalez eclisped the 2,300-career dig mark ... She passed Margie Kolat (Arkansas State, 1991-1994) on the all-time list for third place ... Gonzalez has also played in 450 career games; she is four games away from the No. 4 spot held by Michelle Frazier (1997-2000).