Aug. 8, 2006

HOUSTON, Texas - After earning his 600th career and 100th Conference USA victories last season, head coach Bill Walton enters his 21st season at the helm of the University of Houston volleyball program poised to stay at the top of the C-USA standings with a mix of experience, depth and talented newcomers.

The Cougars are coming off an 18-12 campaign and a second place finish in C-USA after dropping a hard-fought 3-2 battle to Marshall in the championship game. Houston will look to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000.

"We're excited about the upcoming season," Walton said. "For us to be successful, we'll have to find a way to move on without Jaci Gonzalez's leadership, the only libero our program has ever known, in addition to executing the finer points of the game."

Below is a glance at the Cougars position-by-position.

Outside Hitter

Houston is once again loaded with a plethora of options expected to see playing time at outside hitter. As many as six players could see swings on the perimeter for the Cougars.

Kelly McAnelly and Justine Farmer will compete to take the reins of the Cougar offense from Kariny Ritter, who pounded home a team-best 493 kills and was 23rd nationally, knocking down 4.70 kills per game. Ritter smacked 20 or more kills in 11 matches last season and was second in C-USA, popping 5.35 kills per game in league matches on the way to earning C-USA First Team, C-USA All-Tournament along with AVCA All-Region and All-America Honorable Mention honors. She also picked up 267 digs and recorded 82 blocks.

"Kariny's hitting carried us at critical times," Walton said of Ritter last season. "She was our best all-around player and someone that came at you from all different angles and places on the court."

McAnelly is looking to regain her form from 2003 and 2004 that allowed the Houston native to pound home 1,014 kills. After an injury plagued 2005, she will look to regain her dominance that allowed her to be a reliable source of points for the Cougars.

Farmer paced Houston with a team-best 15 double-doubles, earning C-USA All-Freshman honors last season. The El Paso native was second on the squad, nailing 415 kills and tallying 364 digs. She was the only Cougar to average over three kills and three digs per game a season ago.

"If everyone would have been healthy last season it would have been hard for Justine to get on the floor," Walton said of Farmer last season. "All of a sudden after some injuries she was out on the floor without a back-up. We wouldn't have been a second-place team had Justine not stepped up."

Sunshine Misa-Uli and Ashley Calhoun will also be in the mix at outside hitter. Misa-Uli was an NJCAA All-America Second-Team selection at Barton Community College in Kansas where she ripped 518 kills last season. Her 4.32 per game clip was good enough for seventh nationally, while her two blocks per contest were eighth most in the country. Calhoun won her fair share of honors as an All-Conference and All-State selection while at Xavier High School (2002-03) and Neenah High School (2004-05) in Wisconsin.

Making the transition from middle blocker to outside hitter are Mary Cates and Millicent Martin. Cates missed the entire 2005 season with an injury, while Martin provided 72 kills in 71 games. Martin also recorded 87 digs to go along with 28 blocks.

Middle Blocker

The Cougars have a combination of experience and depth returning to middle blocker headlined by Becca Sartori, who was a C-USA Second-Team selection in addition to AVCA All-Region and All-America Honorable Mention honors.

"Becca was one of our most consistent players," Walton said of Sartori last season. "She was the backbone of what we built our entire offense around. She doesn't always get the recognition she deserves, but you know she's always going to give it her all."

Sartori paced the Houston offense and was ninth in C-USA, connecting on a .302 attack percentage. She really picked up her play in C-USA action, attacking at a .355 clip. The Houston native powered home 390 kills, which was third on the squad and paced the team as a force on the front row with 109 blocks.

Zuela Adom brings back her athleticism and power to middle blocker. Adom was second on the team, knocking a .248 attack percentage. The Cougars were 10-4 last season when Adom attacked at a .200 percentage or better. She was also strong at the net, blocking 79 shots.

Akilah Grant-Sullivan took advantage of limited playing time last season when Adom missed a stretch of three matches in late October with an injury. Grant-Sullivan stepped in to reject 17 shots in 20 games.

Houston also adds new faces Erin Rice and Kinsey Cave to the middle. Rice sat out at Michigan State in 2005 due to a medical redshirt, while Cave was an All-CIFSS selection and Century League First-Team selection in both 2004 and 2005 at El Dorado High School in California.

Setter

Houston will have to start back at square one in the setter position after losing both Jennifer Hohl and Kelly Adams. Hohl registered 1,283 of the squad's 1,639 assists and eclipsed the 40-assist mark in 20 of 30 matches last season. She also put together 11 double-doubles and was third on the squad with 268 digs in addition to recording 53 blocks.

"Like a quarterback in football, a setter should be judged on how often their team wins," Walton said of Hohl last season. "Jennifer put in a lot of hard work during her individual workouts, and it really showed with her performance on the floor."

The Cougars are bringing in a pair of talented transfers, Kelsey King and Emily Luensmann, to fill the void left by Hohl. King comes to Houston from Birmingham Southern where she was named to the Big South Conference All-Freshman squad after amassing 1,207 assists at an 11.83 per game clip last season. She also compiled 13 double-doubles, totaling 272 digs and 59 blocks.

Luensmann joins the Cougars from North Dakota State after taking a medical redshirt in 2005. She fired in 12 double-doubles for the Bison during the 2004 season, earning Division I Independent Setter of the Week once and Newcomer of the Week twice. Luensmann left NDSU seventh in program history with 1,415 career assists.

This position battle is one that could go deep in fall practice and one that has multiple solutions for the Cougars. If both players emerge, Walton could choose to run a 6-2 offense that would have both King and Luensmann on the floor at the same time. Walton also could elect to alternate setters in a more tradition 5-1 attack, giving the squad flexibility to play each setters' strength against the opposition's weakness.

Libero

Jaci Gonzalez not only rewrote the Houston record book but the conference record book en route to back-to-back C-USA First Team and Defensive Player of the Year accolades in addition to an AVCA All-Region and All-America Honorable Mention honors last season.

Gonzalez finished her career as the program's first libero, ranked third in NCAA history with 2,451 career digs and sprawled out for 20 or more digs in 23 of 30 matches last season. However, what will be most missed about Gonzalez is her on-court leadership.

"We won not because Jaci dug the ball," Walton said of Gonzalez last season. "We won not because we had depth. We won because Jaci made sure her teammates were in-line. She provided the leadership that successful teams have."

Sophomores Megan Martin and Krystal Schulle will battle to take Gonzalez's spot at libero. The duo saw action in a combined 31 games last season with Martin being used primarily as a serving specialist. Schulle was an extra passer on the back row. Walk-on Lauren Dobbs could also see time on the back row.

Schedule

Houston will face off against three squads that made the NCAA Tournament a season ago, including Ohio State (Aug. 26) in the opening weekend of the season at the Towson Tournament. The Cougars will also match up with host Towson (Aug. 26) and Robert Morris (Aug. 27).

"Our opening weekend is very challenging and we're going to have to be ready to play right out of the box," Walton said. "Ohio State speaks for itself as a solid Big 10 program but Towson and Robert Morris are both solid as well coming off of strong seasons."

The Cougars will continue its three weekend road trip heading to up the road to Waco (Sept. 1-2) following that up with a weekend stop in Nacogdoches (Sept. 8-9). Highlighting those tournaments are a pair of matches against former Southwest Conference rival Baylor (Sept. 2 and 9) along with tilts with New Mexico (Sept. 1) and Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 9).

Houston will return home for its first matches at the Athletics/Alumni Center when it hosts Southland foes Texas-San Antonio (Sept. 14), Texas State (Sept. 15) and McNeese State (Sept. 15, 16) to conclude the preseason.

"Even though our preseason schedule isn't loaded with NCAA Tournament teams like in the past, our schedule only has three teams in Baylor (15-17), Louisiana-Monroe (15-16) and Arkansas State (11-19) without a winning record from last season," Walton said. "Starting the season with three weekends out on the road will make our team mentally tough for conference play."

The 2006 season also marks the second year of a realigned C-USA in which newcomer Marshall outlasted Houston in five games taking the 2005 title. The Cougars will get a crack at revenge on Oct. 20 at the Cam Henderson Center where the Thundering Herd was 9-0 a season ago.

Against C-USA foes, the Cougars have notched an amazing 138-25 (.857) all-time record, including undefeated marks against Southern Miss (14-0), SMU (7-0) and East Carolina (6-0).

Houston will have a pair of mid-week clashes with crosstown rival Rice (Oct. 4, Nov. 2) along with home tilts in C-USA action with UAB (Sept. 24), UTEP (Sept. 29), Tulane (Oct. 1), Southern Miss (Oct. 6), UCF (Oct. 8), Tulsa (Oct. 27) and SMU (Oct. 29).

The Cougars are slated to have road tilts with Memphis (Sept. 22), Tulane (Oct. 13), UTEP (Oct. 15), East Carolina (Oct. 22), SMU (Nov. 10) and Tulsa (Nov. 12).

Hofheinz Pavilion will host the C-USA Tournament (Nov. 16-19) for the first time since 2001 as the league's automatic bid to the NCAA's will be up for grabs.

"We're glad to be hosting the conference tournament," Walton said. "Having the tournament in Houston worked to our advantage last season and we're hoping to duplicate that success."

Houston will head out to the Golden State for the first time since 2003 after the C-USA Tournament for the Bankers Classic at Pacific (Nov. 24-25) to conclude the regular season.