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Sports

Cougars sweat it off

by RONNIE TURNER
The Daily Cougar

After dropping two key Conference USA matches on the road last weekend, the Houston volleyball team could have easily opted to wallow in its sorrow.

However, with head coach Bill Walton, that is never an option. He realizes that there are several other important games remaining on the schedule that his team cannot overlook .

That slate of games starts with a match-up against C-USA frontrunner Tulsa at 7 p.m. tonight in the Athletic/Alumni Center, followed by another home match against Southern Methodist at 1 p.m. Sunday. 

Walton maintains that in order for the Cougars (15-11, 6-5 C-USA) to get back on track, they'll need to have a short memory of last weekend's losses to Marshall and East Carolina, which saw the team fall to sixth in the conference standings.

"There's no time for us to feel sorry for ourselves after last weekend," Walton said. "We have a fever and are trying to sweat it out in practice."

Houston is 8-1 at home this season, but Tulsa (22-5, 9-2 C-USA) has thrived while playing on the road. The Golden Hurricane is 17-4 in matches played away from its home court and will stroll into town with one of the league's top defenses, having limited opponents to an average .170 hitting percentage.

Things have finally started to pick up for SMU (1 3-12, 4-7 C-USA), which enters the weekend having won three of its last five matches. SMU currently shares ninth place with Rice, but a 2-0 weekend could boost the Mustangs toward the middle of the pack.

The Cougars realize their performance this weekend could have a large effect on the remainder of their season.

"I know that we've got a big game against Tulsa, so we're going to have to really step up for that one and not even worry about what's happened in the past," senior middle blocker Becca Sartori said. "We just have to (move) on."
 

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