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Cougar Volleyball Looks to Get Walton 600th Win; Take Lead in C-USA Standings
Oct. 20, 2005
Volleyball Game Notes (PDF)
HOUSTON - The University of Houston volleyball team returns to the Athletics/Alumni Center on a five-match winning streak and tied for second place in the Conference USA standings. The lone squad the Cougars are looking up to in the league standings, Marshall (14-5, 6-1 C-USA), visits the Den Friday to open a key conference weekend. However, head coach Bill Walton sees the weekend as just another blip on the schedule. "This weekend is just two more conference matches," Walton said. "You have to approach every game as if it were special. Sure, there are games where you're more aware of a situation, but to be successful we have to do the same thing on Friday night that we've been doing the last couple of weeks." Walton enters the weekend only one win shy of 600 career victories. Only 11 coaches all-time have reached that feat in volleyball. Fran Kalafer of Hofstra was the last to reach the milestone earlier this season. 2005 marks Walton's 20th season on the Houston campus. His 599-303 He is only one of six Cougar coaches with that long of tenure at UH. Friday's match against the Herd is a showdown between Conference USA Co-Players of the Week, Kariny Ritter and Kelly-Anne Billingy. Both pumped out over six kills per game last weekend. In fact, Billingy broke the C-USA individual match record knocking 38 kills on a .419 attack percentage in a loss to Memphis. "Billingy hits a really heavy ball," Walton said. "It seems that when it hits your arms, it hurts more. If you dig her, block her and make her play defense, you can neutralize her. It's not just her we have to worry about." Once was not enough for Ritter. The Brazilian was dubbed Conference USA Player of the Week for the second consecutive week on Monday. She is the first Cougar to capture the weekly conference award on back-to-back weeks since Jennifer Wittenburg in 2001. She unleashed an amazing 6.12 kills per game on a .339 attack percentage and tallied double-doubles in both matches last weekend. Her 31 kills against UCF (Oct. 16) was a new career-high, while her .352 attack percentage was her second best effort of the season. Seven of her 31 kills came in deciding game five against the Golden Knights. "Ritter's play has been consistent at a high level," head coach Bill Walton said. "Her attacking has been as good as anybody's in the conference over that time." The senior has really stepped up her play in C-USA action. Her 5.43 kills per game in conference matches is second in the league, only behind Marshall's Kelly-Anne Billingy. The Cougars are 7-2 this season when Ritter leads the squad in kills. Ritter has powered home double-digit kills in 11 consecutive matches, including at least 15 kills in nine of those 11 outings. She headlines the Houston offense with 311 kills and is fourth in C-USA averaging 4.57 spikes per game. Jennifer Hohl has been a key cog in the Houston offense this season. The senior setter has put together double-doubles in five of her last eight matches, including a career-best 65 assists last time out at UCF. She has eclipsed the 50-assist mark five times this season. Like Ritter, Hohl has really taken her game to another level since conference play began. The Houston offense is third in C-USA matches connecting on a .247 attack percentage, including a season-best .400 showing against Southern Miss (Oct. 14). The Indiana native ignited a balanced offense equally a C-USA three-game record distributing 52 assists. Her efficiency allowed four hitters to attack over a .300 clip as the Houston hitters registerd a season-low 14 attack errors for the entire match. UH is second in C-USA matches pumping out 16.57 kills per game, while dishing out 15.14 assists per game. Hohl accounts for 12.43 of the helpers. "She's locked in and absorbing everything we're trying to do out there," head coach Bill Walton said. "Jen understands that she can affect the match because she gets to touch every second ball." This season Jaci Gonzalez is not only the top libero in C-USA but the top libero in the nation sporting 427 digs at a 6.28 per game clip. She currently sits sixth all-time, second among active players, on the NCAA list with 2,187 career digs. The San Antonio native is three digs ahead of current Pitt libero Megan McClain and 59 digs shy of Becky Dreher (Oral Roberts, 2001-04) on the all-time list.
Freshman Justine Farmer is having a breakout season for the Cougars. She leads the squad with 10 double-doubles and has reached the 20-kill mark a team-high four times this season. Most recently, Farmer slapped 20 kills in a five-game victory over UCF (Oct. 16). Five of her 20 kills came in the deciding fifth game. Farmer is second on the squad, racking up 251 kills and 233 digs. She is the only player on the team cranking out more than three kills as well as averaging more than three digs per game. The Cougars conclude the weekend facing off with a scrappy East Carolina (12-8, 3-4 C-USA squad Saturday. ECU has lost two consecutive matches in deciding fifth games. "We're out here to have fun and play together," Gonzalez said. "We're all here to reach one goal which we set at the beginning of the season and that was to win conference. This is our chance to take advantage on our home floor." Both matches are slated for a 7pm start at the Athletics/Alumni Center. UH students get in free to all volleyball matches showing their Cougar 1 Card.
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