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Volume 72, Issue 53,
Thursday, November 2, 2006
Sports Cougars to face crosstown rival by RONNIE TURNER
Like every team, Houston has a distinct personality that sets it apart from opponents. But in almost Jekyll and Hyde-type fashion, the Cougars showcased two different personalities during competition at home this weekend. Houston came out firing on all cylinders against Conference USA frontrunner Tulsa en route to a three-game sweep on Friday night, but followed up that victory with a lackluster performance in a loss to Southern Methodist on Sunday. Like so many other times this season, the team had to endure another stretch of inconsistent play. The Cougars hope the better of the two personalities will show itself in their final home match of the regular season against crosstown rival Rice at 7 p.m. tonight in the Athletic/Alumni Center. "It's never a problem with how hard we work, it's just that we have to find a way to have our personality," head coach Bill Walton said. "Every team has a personality, and have to find a way to have (our) personality all the time. We've had a hard time approaching every game with the same mental attitude. "I don't think we're going to have a problem having the right attitude against Rice. We're going to be fired up and ready to go." The loss to SMU gave Houston (16-12, 7-6 C-USA) three losses in its last four matches, dropping the Cougars to sixth place in C-USA. The Cougars need to win their final three conference games and hope for some of the teams near the top of the standings to falter in order to capture one of the four first-round games for the C-USA Tournament, which Houston will host Nov. 16 to 19 at Hofheinz Pavilion. Rice (12-15, 5-8 C-USA) enters the match with losses in four of its last five matches and currently occupies the ninth-place slot in the conference standings, but the Owls are no easy pushovers. Tulsa found that out on Sunday after being pushed to the limit by the Owls in a 3-2 victory, and Houston needs to keep its guard up. "We'll all be trying to focus on the big goal, which is beating the (Owls)," freshman libero Ashley Calhoun said. "We're just really trying to go out there with a lot of enthusiasm and execute our game plan." If sophomore outside hitter Justine Farmer puts up her usual numbers, the Cougars may not have much to worry about. Farmer currently leads the team with 483 kills and has a league-leading 19 double-doubles. Her 4.69 kills per game average ranks fifth in C-USA. "Justine needs to keep the kills and cut down on the errors, and we're good," Walton said. "She just needs to maintain her consistency in terms of attacking the ball in the court." So far, playing at home this season has brought out the best in the Cougars, who sport a 9-2 record at the Athletic/Alumni Center. The added incentive for tonight's match is that it could be their last shot at knocking off Rice for senior middle blocker Becca Sartori and senior outside hitters Kelly McAnelly and Millicent Martin, who are playing in their final matches at the Athletic/Alumni Center. Dating back to the 2003 season, Houston has dropped six of its last seven meetings with the Owls with the only victory coming last season at the Athletic/Alumni Center. The Cougars fell short in a 3-2 decision against Rice in their first meeting of 2006 on Oct. 4 at Autry Court. If the Houston seniors have it their way, they'll get the last laugh this time. "It would be really upsetting to lose your last home game, but I don't see that as a possibility in my mind," Sartori said. Send comments to dcsports@mail.uh.edu |
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