Nov. 18, 2005
Box Score
Houston felt at home in cross-town rival Rice's Autry Court as the Cougars defeated seventh-seeded SMU in the quarterfinals of the 2005 Conference USA Volleyball Championship Friday night. Houston beat SMU for the third time this season, 3-1, to advance to semifinals, facing Tulane Saturday at 7 p.m.
"I said going into this tournament that Tulane would surprise folks," Houston head coach Bill Walton said. "They missed nearly a month of play early on and are finally getting comfortable with each other. They have nothing to lose and with a season that has been hard to find something to be positive about, this is their chance. To face everyone on a neutral court and prove themselves."
SMU took game two 30-17 going into the break, but the Cougars rebounded to collect wins in stanzas three and four.
"Game three is the most important," Walton said. "You've got to grab the momentum coming out of the break. And luckily we did that this evening."
Houston's Justine Farmer led all players with 18 kills, while teammate Kariny Ritter tabbed 15 to go along with her 11 digs. Farmer was nearly perfect on the night as the freshman had only two attack errors on 37 attempts.
Two-time Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year Jaci Gonzalez led all Cougars with 23 digs on the night.
"Jaci was crucial for us tonight," Walton, who became the 11th coach in NCAA history to pick up his 600th career win earlier this season, stated. "We had a blocking plan going into the match, but even if it fell through, she was behind there picking up anything and everything."
Leading the Mustangs was the duo of Natalie Peters and Rachel Giubilato. The tandem collected 13 kills apiece, while Giubilato had 10 digs in the match. Stefanie Kons tallied 30 assists for the Ponies.
2005 C-USA VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Thursday, November 17, 2005: Match 1 - (9) UCF def. (8) Memphis, 3-1 (22-30, 30-24, 30-24, 30-24) Match 2 - (5) East Carolina def. (12) Southern Miss, 3-0 (30-21, 32-30, 30-27) Match 3 - (11) Tulane def. (6) Rice, 3-2 (31-33, 30-23, 30-27, 18-30, 15-13) Match 4 - (7) SMU def. (10) UAB, 3-1 (27-30, 30-28, 30-26, 30-21)
Friday, November 18, 2005 (Quarterfinals): Match 5 - (1) Marshall def. UCF, 3-2 (24-30, 23-30, 30-25, 30-23, 15-10) Match 6 - (4) UTEP def. East Carolina, 3-0 (30-25, 31-29, 30-25) Match 7 - Tulane def. (3) Tulsa, 3-2 (26-30, 30-25, 21-30, 30-15, 15-13) Match 8 - (2) Houston def. SMU, 3-1 (30-19, 17-30, 30-25, 30-13)
Saturday, November 19, 2005 (Semifinals): Match 9 - Marshall vs. UTEP, 5 p.m. Match 10 - Tulane vs. Houston, 7 p.m.
Sunday, November 20, 2005 (Championship): Match 11 - Championship Match (CSTV), 4 p.m.
All Times Central. All matches will be played at Autry Court, Houston, Texas.
