2007 Schedule August 24 Texas-Arlington W, (3-0) 28 at Kansas State L, (0-3) 31 Texas L, (0-3) September 2 New Mexico State* L, (1-3) 5 Cal State Bakersfield* W, (3-2) 6 at Texas-San Antonio W, (3-2) 7 at Texas State& L, (1-3) 7 vs. Missouri& L, (1-3) 8 vs. Cal State Fullerton& L, (1-3) 13 Rice^# W, (3-0) 14 Stephen F. Austin^ W, (3-2) 15 Wake Forest^ W, (3-1) 21 at UCF# W, (3-0) 23 Southern Miss# W, (3-1) 27 at Rice# L, (2-3) October 5 at Tulsa# L, (0-3) 7 at SMU# W, (3-0) 12 Tulane# W, (3-0) 14 UTEP# W, (3-2) 19 at UAB# L, (2-3) 21 at Memphis# L, (1-3) 26 East Carolina# W, (3-1) 28 Marshall# L, (3-0) November 2 at UTEP# L, (3-1) 4 at Tulane# L, (3-0) 9 SMU# L, (3-2) 11 Tulsa# W, (3-2) 15-18 C-USA Tournament TBA * Houston Invitational; & Century Tell Premier (San Marcos, Texas); ^ Houston Tournament; # Conference USA Matches; Home Matches in Bold University of Houston Volleyball Contact: Jamie Zarda, Sports Information Assistant Cell: (913) 406-4914 Office: (713) 743-9406 Email: jczarda@uh.edu 2007 Houston Cougars No. Name Cl. Pos. Height Hometown (Last School) 1 Ashley Calhoun So. OH 6-0 Neenah, Wisc. (Neenah HS) 2 Kinsey Cave So. RS 6-2 Placentia, Calif. (El Dorado HS) 3 Erin Rice So. MB 6-2 Burnham, Ill. (Michigan State) 4 Hannah Sullivan Fr. OH 5-11 New Albany, Ind. (New Albany HS) 5 Amanda Carson Fr. DS 5-9 Allen, Texas (Allen HS) 6 Katelyn Osbourne Fr. OH 5-11 Lubbock, Texas (Lubbock HS) 7 Kelsey King Jr. S 5-9 San Antonio, Texas (Birmingham Southern) 8 Justine Farmer Jr. OH 5-10 El Paso, Texas (Americas HS) 9 Malia Vavao Fr. MB 6-0 Torrance, Calif. (Torrance HS) 10 Lauren Dobbs So. DS 5-7 Missouri City, Texas (Dulles HS) 11 Barbara Freitas Jr. MB/OH 6-0 Belo Horizonte, Brazil (Western Neb. CC) 13 Lucy Charuk Fr. MB 6-2 Tsawwassen, British Columbia (South Delta) 18 Robin Fitzgerald Fr. S 6-0 College Station, Texas (A&M Consolidated HS) Conference USA Volleyball Championship The Cougars will travel to Huntington, W. Va. for the 2007 Conference USA Championships on Nov. 15-18. They open play with a 2pm match on Nov. 15 against Southern Miss. The winner of that match will face UAB at 2pm on Nov. 16. The Championship match is slated for Nov. 18 at 6pm. Pronunciation Guide Lucy Charuk CHA-rook Barbara Freitas FRY-tas Malia Vavao MA-lee-ah Vah-VOW Houston defeated Southern Miss earlier this season 3-1. They are 15-2 in the all-time series against the Golden Eagles. Last season at the C-USA Championships, the Cougars defeated Rice and Marshall before falling to Memphis in the semi-finals. UH is 17-10 all-time in C-USA Championship games. They have played in the championship match once in 2005 falling 3-2 to Marshall. Twice is Nice Justine Farmer earned her second C-USA Offensive Player of the Week award on Oct. 15 after guiding the Cougars to two conference wins. Farmer recorded her 12th double-double this season in a five-game win over UTEP. In the five-game win over UTEP, she established the league s record this season for second most kills with 31. Farmer holds the record at 36 in a win against Southern Miss. She also had 15 digs for her 12th double-double this season. Houston defeated the Miners in five games, Sunday, moving their record to 4-1 in five-game matches. Against Tulane, Farmer had 20 kills and 13 digs for 22 points. Her.321 hitting percentage was her third best this season. Her first C-USA Offensive Player of the Week award came on Sept. 10 after leading the Cougars to a 2-3 record over the previous weekend. Houston played five matches in four days and were led by Farmer who recorded a double-double in each match. She also recorded a Cougar record 99 total attempts against Texas-San Antonio. C-USA Preseason Rankings 1. Marshall 2. Tulane 3. UAB 4. Memphis 5. Houston Tulsa 7. SMU 8. Rice 9. East Carolina 10. Southern Miss 11. UTEP 12. UCF Climbing the Charts Farmer, an El Paso native, moved into first place in the all-time kills list with 1,652. Her total passed Debbie Vokes who previously held the record at 1,580. Farmer also joined the 1,000-kill 1,000-dig club with 1,251 digs. Her career digs rank fourth in Cougar history. Carson Digs Into Record Books Amanda Carson moved into third place in the season leaders for digs. Her 463 digs are 128 behind second place. Justine Farmer sits in tenth with the 364 digs she had in 2005. 99 Attempts Farmer set a Cougar record for total attempts against Texas-San Antonio. Her 99 attempts beat the previous record of 95 set by Jennifer Wittenburg three times. The mark was also a personal best. Double Double Watch Justine Farmer- 18 Hannah Sullivan- 8 Kelsey King- 7
UH Quick Facts University Facts Location Houston, Texas Founded 1927 Began Intercollegiate Athletics 1964 Enrollment 35,400 President/Chancellor Dr. Jay Gogue Athletics Director Dave Maggard Affiliation NCAA Division I Conference Conference USA Nickname Cougars Colors Scarlet & White with Navy Trim Facility Athletics/Alumni Center Volleyball Facts Head Coach Bill Walton All-Time Record (Yrs) 626-324 (24) At UH (Yrs) 416-269 (21) All-Time C-USA Record 117-62 Program Record 829-470 Assistant Coach Phil Nickel Assistant Coach Gabi Carbone 06 Record 19-17 06 C-USA Record 8-8 06 Postseason N/A Letterwinners R/L 6/6 Starters R/L 2+Libero/4 Newcomers 8 Top Returners Justine Farmer Erin Rice Kelsey King Ashley Calhoun Top Newcomers Hannah Sullivan Barbara Freitas Lucy Charuk Robin Fitzgerald Amanda Carson Top Players Lost Becca Sartori Kelly McAnelly Krystal Schulle Jr./OH So./MB Jr./S So./OH OH MB/OH MB S DS MB OH S Interview Policy The Houston volleyball team practices in the late afternoon/early evenings at the Athletics Alumni Center. To schedule an interview with players or coaches, please contact Sports Information Assistant Jamie Zarda at 713-743-9406. Robin Fitzgerald- 4 Ashley Calhoun- 1 Cougars Picked Fifth In Preseason Poll The Cougars were picked to finish fifth in the annual C-USA preseason poll as voted on by the league s coaches. UH tied with Tulsa for fifth place behind Marshall, Tulane, UAB and Memphis. Following in seventh place was SMU, with Rice, ECU, Southern Miss, UTEP and UCF finishing out the poll. Farmer Named to C-USA Preseason Team Junior outside hitter Justine Farmer was named to the 2007 Preseason All-C-USA Team. The award voted on by the league s coaches was announced Aug. 1, 2007. Farmer will look to lead a young Cougar squad with 8 newcomers joining the team. Almost There Head Coach Bill Walton is just 11 wins away from 650 career wins. Walton enters his 22nd season at UH, which ties UH track coach Tom Tellez as the fourth longest stay at Houston. Where are the Seniors? There are no seniors on the roster in 2007 leading the leadership duties to juniors Kelsey King and Justine Famer. Barbara Freitas, a transfer from Western Nebraska CC, will also join the team as a junior this fall. There are also four sophomores and six freshmen on the squad. 2007 Opponent Match Highs Team Category Total Opponent Att Pct.473 Texas Kills 76 UAB Attempts 222 UAB Assists 74 UAB Digs 108 UAB Aces 14 Cal State-Bakersfield Blocks 15.5 Stephen F. Austin 2007 Opponent Match Lows Team Category Total Opponent Att Pct.065 UCF Kills 33 UCF Attempts 91 Texas Assists 32 UCF Digs 30 UCF Aces 0 UT-Arlington Blocks 3 Tulsa Conference USA Standings Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct. Marshall 15 1.938 22 8.733 Tulane 14 2.875 26 5.839 UAB 12 4.750 22 8.733 Tulsa 11 5.688 24 8.750 Memphis 11 5.688 22 11.677 Houston 8 8.500 13 14.481 Rice 7 9.438 12 16.429 SMU 6 10.357 16 14.533 ECU 6 10.375 15 16.484 Southern Miss 3 13.188 12 20.375 UTEP 3 13.188 9 19.321 UCF 0 16.000 9 22.290 Cougar Marks 2007 Houston Record Overall 13-14 Home 9-4 Away 3-8 Neutral 0-2 August 1-2 September 7-5 October 4-4 Novermber 1-3 Wenesday 1-1 Thursday 2-1 Friday 5-6 Saturday 1-1 Sunday 4-4 Three-Game Match 5-5 Four-Game Match 3-6 Five-Game Match 5-3 Win First Game 10-5 Lose First Game 3-9 Win Second Game 9-2 Lose Second Game 4-12 Win First Two Games 7-0 Lose First Two Games 1-7 Split First Two Games 5-7 2007 Individual & Match Highs Individual Team Category Total Player Match Category Total Match Att Pct*.727 Kinsey Cave vs. Tulane Att Pct.358 vs. Texas-Arlington Kills 36 Justine Farmer vs. Southern Miss Kills 84 vs. Tulsa (11/11) Attempts 99 Justine Farmer vs. Texas-San Antonio Attempts 221 vs. Rice (9-27), UAB Assists 67 Robin Fitzgerald vs. Texas-San Antonio Assists 77 vs. Tulsa (11/11) Digs 35 Amanda Carson vs. Tulsa (11/11) Digs 99 vs. SMU (11/9) Aces 8 Hannah Sullivan vs. UAB Aces 12 vs. UAB Blocks 10 Erin Rice vs. Texas State, UAB Blocks 16 vs. Texas State 10 Barbara Freitas vs. ECU 16 vs. ECU * minimum 10 attempts
HEAD COACH BILL WALTON 22ND SEASON GEORGE WILLIAMS, 1974 626-324 career RECORD University of Houston volleyball coach Bill Walton is no stranger to success entering his 22nd season with the Cougars. Walton, the longest tenured coach at UH, has led the Cougars to 416 victories and 109 Conference USA wins. Walton has been a permanent fixture in the consistent success and longevity of the Houston volleyball program. In fact, Walton has averaged just under 20 wins per season and put together a stretch of 17 consecutive winning seasons from 1986 to 2002. The Cougars also earned bids to 12 consecutive postseasons from 1989 to 2000 (11 NCAA s & 1 NIVC) under Walton. Walton s career spans 26 seasons, where he has put together one of the best records of any Division I coach. He picked up his 600th career victory against East Carolina on October 22, 2005, becoming the 11th coach in NCAA history to reach that feat. He currently stands just outside of the NCAA Top 10 in career victories for Division I active coaches at 626-324 (.632). A teacher of the game, Walton has produced 59 All-Conference players (37 C- USA and 22 SWC) in addition to 24 All-Region selections. He coached 1994 AVCA All-America and Olympic Festival participant Lilly Denoon and has placed at least one player on an All-Conference team in 20 consecutive seasons (1987-2006). Walton produced a pair of Conference USA selections a season ago headlined by Justine Farmer. Her 645 kills were second-most in program history for a singleseason, while her 4.85 kills per game was 16th nationally. Farmer paced C-USA with 26 double-doubles en route to a All-Conference First-Team selection. Walton s program also produced Jaci Gonzalez, who was 2004 and 2005 C-USA Defensive Player of Year. Gonzalez, a San Antonio Alamo volleyball club product, finished her career third in NCAA history, compiling 2,451 career digs. Walton looks to get back to the NCAA Tournament after recording a 19-17 mark last season. He must replace Kelly McAnelly and Becca Sartori, who are both ranked in the program s Top 5 in career kills. Walton hit the recruiting trail hard and has a group of talented newcomers to join his experienced veterans. Walton led the program to its first NCAA Tournament in 1989 and also captured the 1990 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) title, often referred to as the Volleyball NIT. At that championship, Houston defended its No.1 seed, storming through the 20-team field knocking off Tennessee, Colorado, Memphis and Cal-State Northridge along the way to a 6-0 record. Before the Cougars joined C-USA in 1996, Walton secured a spot as one of the top volleyball coaches in Southwest Conference history. He earned SWC Coach of the Year honors twice in 1992 and 1994. the semifinals of the conference tournament in eight of its 11 seasons as a league member. The Cougars also were regulars in the regional rankings by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and were the No. 1 team in its region several times throughout the late 1990s. During the 1999 season, Walton picked up his 500th career win against Memphis. In addition to tremendous success on the court, Walton s high standards for his program carry over into academics, character and taking a role in the University community. His teams have proven to be every bit as strong academically, earning NCAA national and regional Academic All-America awards as well as selections to the C-USA Commissioner s Academic Honor Roll. Millicent Martin and Kelsey King won 2006-07 C-USA Commissioner s Academic Medals, while Gonzalez was named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team. Walton came to Houston in 1986 from Elmhurst College in Illinois, where he compiled a 210-55 record. He led the Blue Jays to the 1983 and 1985 NCAA Division III National Championship. In his first year as head coach at Elmhurst, Walton took a team with a.500 record the previous season to an Illinois State Championship and a No. 4 finish in the final AIAW-College Championships. Walton began his volleyball career after originally attending George Williams College to play basketball. After his freshman season, a roommate convinced him to try volleyball. Walton, who is still often mistaken for the former NBA star who shares his name, quickly picked up the sport of volleyball and became a two-time NAIA All-American. Walton led George Williams to the national volleyball title in 1974 and his outstanding play gained him berths on the 1976 United States America s Cup Team and the 1979 United States National Team, which he left shortly after to take a head coaching position at Elmhurst. Following graduation from George Williams, Walton was a volunteer assistant coach at Cincinnati, where he earned a master s degree in education. He arrived at Elmhurst in 1979 as an instructor in the physical education department, earned his first volleyball head coaching job at the school in 1981 and soon began climbing his way to the top. An impressive career that started with a casual challenge from his roommate in college. However, if you know Walton, there are no casual challenges. Whether it s the big match, team academics, or a daily drill in practice, Walton shows his players that accepting challenges and adhering to responsibility is a way to achieve success. Walton has set himself apart from the first two coaches at Houston as the only volleyball coach to capture a conference championship, and is responsible for 416 of the program s 810 victories since 1974. Walton s 1994 Cougars racked up a 26-7 record, en route to the SWC regular season and tournament title. Houston was the only team in the league s 14-year history to dethrone Texas from the regular season title. Houston knocked off Clemson and Florida before falling to UCLA in the NCAA Elite Eight. The Cougars loss to the Bruins put Houston one win shy from going to the program s first Final Four since the 1970s. Houston enjoys its headline status as an elite volleyball member of Conference USA and has compiled an eye-opening 109-54 (.669) league record. The Cougars won the C-USA Tournament in 1997 and were regular season co-champions in 1999 as Michelle Frazier won C-USA Co-Player of the Year. Houston has reached
#1 Ashley Calhoun 6-0 Neenah, Wisc. (Neenah HS) #5 Amanda Carson 5-9 Defensive Specialist Allen, Texas (Allen HS) Calhoun At A Glance Kills- 17 Kills- 17 Service Ace- 3 Service Ace- 5 Digs- 22 Digs- 31 Blocks- 6 - Notched a career-high 17 kills in the regular season finale win against Tulsa. - Fourth on the team in kills (128), service aces (22) and digs (211). Kills- 2 Assists- 3 Service Ace- 3 Digs- 35 Carson At A Glance - Ranks fifth in Conference USA matches in digs with 299 - Her 463 digs this season ranks seventh on the UH all-time season leaders list. - Career-high 35 digs came in the regular seaon finale against Tulsa #2 Kinsey Cave 6-2 Oustide Hitter Placentia, Calif. (El Dorado HS) #13 Lucy Charuk 6-2 Middle Blocker Tswwassen, British Columbia (South Delta) Kills- 14 Assists- 3 Service Ace- 2 Digs- 5 Blocks- 6 Cave At A Glance Kills- 21 Assists- 3 Service Ace- 2 Digs- 5 Blocks- 8 Charuk At A Glance - Saw action in 73 games this season - Averaged 1.34 kills per game and 0.44 blocks - Missed 12 matches this season due to injury. - Played in just four Conference USA matches this season including Rice (9/13), UCF (9/21), SMU (11/9) and Tulsa (11/11).
#12 Lauren Dobbs 5-7 Defensive Specialist Missouri City, Texas (Dulles HS) #8 Justine Farmer Junior 5-10 El Paso, Texas (Americas) Dobbs At A Glance Digs- 14 Digs- 14 - Played in 54 matches this season. - Has 63 career digs. -- Her career-high 14 digs came against Texas State (9/7). Farmer At A Glance Kills- 36 Kills- 36 Total Attempts- 99 Total Attempts- 99 Hitting Percentage-.478 Hitting Percentage-.478 Digs- 30 Digs- 38 -Leads the team in kills (592) and total attempts (1,646). -Ranks second on the team in digs (377). - League leaders in kills (367) and points (405.0) in confernce matches. - Her 99 attack attempts against UT-San Antonio set a career-high and is a school record for most attempts in a single match. - Farmer s 5.58 kills/game is the third best season average in Cougar history. -Set a school record for career kills (1,652) and her 1,251 career digs is fourth. - Her 592 kills this season is fourth in the single season record books. -Two-time Conference USA Offensice Player of the Week. #18 Robin Fitzgerald 6-6 Setter College Station, Texas (A&M Consolidated HS) #11 Barbara Freitas Junior 6-0 Middle Blocker/ Belo Horizonte, Brazil (Western Nebraska CC) Assists- 67 Service Ace- 5 Digs- 14 Fitzgerald At A Glance - Ranks second on the team in assists with 600. - Her career-high 67 assists came in a win over UT-San Antonio. -Notched a career-high 14 digs against Cal State Bakersfield. Kills- 9 Digs- 10 Freitas At A Glance - Transfer from Western Nebraska CC - Recorded a career-high nine kills against Memphis (10/21). - Her career-high 10 digs came in a win over ECU.
#7 Kelsey King Junior 5-9 Setter San Antonio, Texas (Birmingham Southern) #6 Katelyn Osbourne 5-11 Lubbock, Texas (Lubbock HS) King At A Glance Assists- 50 Assists- 60 Service Ace- 3 Digs- 13 - Missed seven matches this season because of illness. -Leads the team in assists with 649. - Ranks 10th in the league in conference matches with 8.77 assists per game. - Recorded a season-high 50 assists against ECU. Redshirt Osbouorne At A Glance #3 Erin Rice 6-2 Middle Blocker Burnham, Ill. (Michigan State) #4 Hannah Sullivan 5-11 New Albany, Ind. (New Albany HS) Rice At A Glance Season Best Career Best Blocks- 10 Blocks- 14 - Ranks ninth in Conference USA in conference matches with a 1.14 block per game average. - Leads the team in blocks with 111. Career/Season Best Kills- 24 Total Attempts- 67 Hitting Percentage-.556 Service Ace- 8 Digs- 21 Blocks- 6 Sullivan At A Glance - Leads the team in service aces with 40. Needs just four more to break into the all-time season leaders. - Ranks second on the team in kills with 297. - Her 252 digs are third best on the team. - Ranks second in league matches in C-USA with 0.55 service ace per game average.
#9 Malia Vavao 6-0 Middle Blocker Torrance, Calif. (Torrance HS) Kills- 5 Digs- 7 Blocks- 7 - Played in 82 matches this season. - Ranks third on the team in blocks with 55. - Has 56 career kills. Vavao At A Glance - Career-high seven blocks came against Cal State-Fullerton.