The University of Houston volleyball team will kick off the 2008 season tonight against Marquette with high expectations. The team looks to bounce back from a sixth-place finish in Conference USA last season.
Head coach Bill Walton, entering his 23rd season at UH leads the Cougars and has put together a team that looks to erase the memories of last season’s 13-15 record.
"My expectation is for us to be in the hunt for a Conference championship," Walton said.
The team is led by 2007 C-USA First Team senior outside-hitter Justine Farmer, who was third best in the NCAA last season with 5.51 kills per game. Farmer will join setter Kelsey King and middle blocker Barbara Freitas as the only seniors on the team.
Farmer will be a huge factor in the success of the Cougars. She has already set two records at UH with the most kills (1,666) and total attempts (4,587) as she enters her third consecutive season as a starter. The standout from El Paso led the team with 606 kills in 2007 and hopes to lead her team to the NCAA Tournament in her final collegiate season.
The team will also welcome back sophomore middle blocker Lucy Charuk, who missed most of last season with a foot injury. Charuk’s capacity to serve, block and attack enabled her to score points for the team in a variety of ways makes her a key player this year.
"She was scoring almost six points a game for us last season," Walton said of Charuk.
Matchups in the Marquette Kickoff tournament include Tennessee and Tennessee-Chattanooga on Saturday after the Cougars face host team Marquette in the opening round game at 7 p.m. Friday. The preseason tournament will be an opportunity for the coaching staff to evaluate a team that consists of six freshmen.
"We want to see where we are and what we need to work on for the rest of this year," Walton said.
Key freshmen players to make an impact this season include outside hitter Ingrida Zauere from Kuldiga, Latvia and outside hitter Nataliya Panova from Sofia, Bulgaria.
Zauere and Panova are more experienced than regular freshman, having both played overseas in international competitions during high school. Zauere’s team competed in the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Under-21 World Championships and in beach volleyball. Panova has played international volleyball for premier club leagues.
"Ingrida (Zauere) and Nataliya (Panova) should play some extensive minutes for us this season," Walton said.
The toughest opponent the Cougars will face this weekend will be the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. The Lady Volunteers were picked to finish third in the SEC Eastern Division this season by the league’s 11 head coaches.
Lady Volunteer sophomore outside hitter Nikki Fowler was named to the preseason All-Southeastern Conference team and will be the player the Cougars need to watch for.
The Marquette Kickoff is the first of three tournaments UH will play in to start the season on the road before their home opener. The Cougars will travel to play in the New Mexico State Tournament and Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational before returning to Houston to face Lamar at 7 p.m. on Sept. 17.
