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Sports

UH falls short in C-USA tournament

Houston advanced to semi-finals, 
bows out to third-seeded Memphis Tigers

by Ronnie Turner
The Daily Cougar

In Houston's first two matches of the Conference USA Volleyball Tournament, the Cougars played with energy and focus. But on Saturday against Memphis in the semifinals, the Cougars ran out of both.

The seventh-seeded Cougars fell 3-1 (27-30, 30-32, 30-25, 14-30) to the third-seeded Tigers at Hofheinz Pavilion. The loss ended Houston's chances of earning C-USA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Cougars (19-15) were efficient in victories over Rice and Marshall in the first two rounds of the tournament, but made several mistakes during Saturday's match. The defense failed to slow down Memphis-- powerful offensive attack, which out-hit Houston .302 to .182.

"Every night's not your best game, and tonight certainly wasn't ours," Houston head coach Bill Walton said. "The real thing I think is going to hurt a couple of players is that they had a chance to do something to help the team win, and they just didn't come through when it was needed most. That's an extremely disappointing thing."

The key moment came during the second game with Memphis (27-7 at press time) already ahead 1-0 in the match. Houston built up a solid 29-27 lead and appeared to be on its way to a sure victory, but the Cougars failed to pick up the game-winning point on the next two serves. The lapse allowed Memphis to score five of the final six points en route to a 32-30 victory.

That loss dropped Houston into a 2-0 hole that the team wasn't able to overcome.

"In game two, we're up 29-27 (with) two swings for the game and we don't come through," Walton said. "(There was) a ball handling error caused by the referees, hitting errors and we lose on an ace."

Houston had trouble all night containing Memphis middle blockers Shelby Burton (21 kills, .576 attack percentage) and Melissa Nance (12 kills, .478). After laboring tirelessly in the first two matches, the Cougars-- defense simply broke down.

"Words don't even describe how I feel," said senior outside hitter Kelly McAnelly, who had 19 kills and 11 digs against Memphis. "We were all a little bit slower and didn't have that fire that we had the (first two matches). It's really disappointing."

Houston will finish its regular season with two matches in the Bankers Classic at Pacific from Nov. 24-25 in Stockton, Calif. and a chance to finish with 20-plus victories. 

"It's a chance for us to still finish the season on a happy note," Walton said. "We have a chance to go win the tournament and (finish the season) with 21 wins. If we win 21 matches, the (players) can hold their head up high and say they had a good year."

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