The UH volleyball team is off to a solid start after winning two of three matches on the road in the Marquette Kickoff Tournament in Milwaukee, Wis.
Houston had 3-1 match wins over Marquette (23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-22) and Tennessee-Chattanooga (25-13, 23-25, 25-3, 25-17), but dropped a tough five-set match to Southeastern Conference powerhouse Tennessee 3-2 (12-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-29, 10-15).
In all three matches, senior outside hitter Justine Farmer led the Cougars with 22 kills against Marquette and 15 kills against both Tennessee-Chattanooga and Tennessee.
"She definitely is one of our leaders," UH assistant coach Gabi Carbone said of Farmer before the tournament.
Farmer got some help from her teammates against Tennessee from junior right side Kinsey Cave, who chipped in with 11 kills. Freshman outside hitter Ingrida Zauere had a big match with 11 kills and 11 digs, while senior setter Kelsey King added an impressive 43 assists.
The Cougars forced Tennessee into playing a fifth set by winning sets three and four after dropping the first two, but the comeback fell short in a 15-10 set five loss. Sophomore outside hitter Nikki Fowler paced Tennessee with 13 kills to get by Houston for the victory.
The Cougars were ready to bounce back against Tennessee-Chattanooga after the loss to Tennessee. Farmer, Zauere, sophomore defensive specialist Amanda Carson and sophomore middle blocker Lucy Charuk put in great performances against the Lady Mocs.
In addition to her 15 kills, Farmer added 12 digs. Zauere had another great match with 13 kills while outside hitter Nataliya Panova had six kills and 12 digs as the freshman tandem continued to impress. King chipped in with an incredible 49 assists, Carson had 10 digs, and Charuk tied Farmer with 15 kills of her own.
The Cougars had an impressive 25-3 win in set three over Chattanooga, the lowest point total allowed in school history by the Cougars in a non-fifth set since rally scoring began in 2001. Houston crushed the old record of 10 points scored by TCU in the first set on Nov. 6, 2001.
In the win over Marquette, King had an impressive 35 of the team’s 42 assists. Carson added 12 digs to give the Cougars their first victory of the season. Head coach Bill Walton also got contributions from Panova, who had 11 kills and six digs, five of which came in a key third-set win to put the Cougars up 2-1.
Despite a close loss to Marquette in the first set, the Cougars managed to win the next three sets by a close score of 25-22 to pull out the win. Houston’s win over the host team Marquette improved coach Walton’s season-opener record to 16-6 at UH.
Farmer and Zauere were both named to the Marquette Kickoff All-Tournament team.
Houston will continue its season this weekend at the New Mexico State University Tournament, where the Cougars will face Florida Gulf Coast followed by host New Mexico State on Friday before playing Utah on Saturday to close out the tournament.
