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UH Volleyball Highlight

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UH Volleyball involved in Freeze Mob

Check out the girls participating in a Freeze Mob!! Very cool!

Volleyball Knocks off UAB 3-1

Four Cougars Record Double-Digit Kills

The University of Houston volleyball team improved to 9-0 at the Athletics/Alumni Center with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-20) win over UAB Friday night. With the win, Houston improves to 15-5 on the season and 8-2 in Conference USA play.

Four Cougars recorded double-digit kills in the win over the Blazers. Junior Katie Norris led the Cougars with 17 kills. Junior Chandace Tryon added 14 kills and three blocks, while senior Lucy Charuk had 13 kills and four blocks. Junior Stephanie Nwachukwu finished the match with 11 kills.

Freshman Caitlin Ogletree had 49 assists and freshman Natalie Keck had a game-high 24 digs.

“This win was huge,” head coach Molly Alvey said. “We need to keep building up our momentum. We weren’t very sharp tonight, but we played a very good team and stuck together and kept going. It just adds to the energy and the confidence that we’ve been working on.

“We are at a totally different place than where we were at the beginning of the year. Tonight, we started off the match slow, but we wanted to win and we stuck together."

Houston struggled during the opening points of the match, committing five attack errors on 13 attempts to dig a 9-5 hole against the Blazers. Trailing, Alvey called a timeout to regroup her team. The Cougars battled back to within one, 11-10, out of the break, but UAB pulled away once again to regain a 20-15 led.

Alvey called her second timeout and UH came off the bench to go on a 5-1 run and get within one, 21-20. After giving up much of their lead, the Blazers called a timeout. Both teams traded points the rest of the way before UAB came away with a 25-23 win.

The Cougars had 11 kills in the first set, led by four from Charuk.

After dropping the first set, Houston bounced back to take a 14-10 lead in the second set. The Blazers battled back to tie the score 15-15 but Houston pulled away to regain a 21-17 lead. Trailing by four, UAB called its second timeout of the set. Off the bench, the Blazers scored four straight points to tie the set,21-21. UAB scored the first points out of a Houston timeout, but the Cougars battled back to close out the set on a 4-0 run and even the match with a 25-23 win.

Charuk and Norris combined for 10 of the Cougars’ 16 kills in the second set.

Trailing 15-14 to the Blazers in the third set, Houston went on an impressive 11-2 run to close out the set and earn a 25-17 win.

Norris connected for seven kills on 15 attempts to lead Houston in the third set.

Holding a 2-1 match lead, Houston went into the fourth set looking to secure the win. The Cougars opened to a 9-5 lead before a 4-1 run increased the UH advantage to13-6. The Blazers put together a 4-0 run midway through the set to pull within four, 17-14, but Houston held off a battling UAB to win the final set, 25-20.

 

Houston Volleyball Debuts At No. 44 In RPI Rankings

Lucy Charuk Ranks Eighth In Hitting Percentage In NCAA

 When the first 2011 NCAA RPI rankings were released this week, the University of Houston volleyball team debuted at No. 44, the program’s highest ranking since 2008.

 “I am very happy about being in this spot,” head coach Molly Alvey said. “Scheduling worked out for us this year, the team was prepared to do what we expected them to do going into the season and we’ve been winning big time matches and playing well together. It is exciting for our program, the University and the Athletic Department. There are very positive things going on with the volleyball program.”

 At the conclusion of the 2008 season, Houston was ranked No. 43 in the final RPI after going 20-12 and finishing fourth in league play. Last season the Cougars were 91^st in the final rankings and 192^nd in 2009.

 The team had an off day on Monday so Alvey will address the ranking with her team prior to practice today. She is positive the team will use this as motivation against this weekend’s competition.

“They will be incredibly excited,” Alvey said. “It is almost a 50-point jump for us. We finished last year at 91 and to be sitting at 44 is pretty impressive, so they will be very excited. It translates to all the hard work they have been putting in. This will be exciting news for them, especially going into this week’s match, which is very important for us in the conference standings.”

The Cougars are 14-5 this season and 7-2 in Conference USA play. They are tied for second place in the league standings with UAB, their opponent Friday at the Athletics/Alumni Center.

In addition to the team honors, senior Lucy Charuk and freshman Caitlin Ogletree found themselves ranked among the NCAA leaders in multiple categories.

 Charuk ranks eighth in the NCAA with a team-leading 1.30 blocks per set and 29^th in hitting percentage with a .413 clip. 

 “This is very important for Lucy,” Alvey said. “She has done a lot of things to get prepared for the season from playing for the Canadian National Team to traveling overseas. Those are part of her future goals and she knew it was going to help her this season. Being a senior captain, Lucy hasbeen doing the things she needs to put her team and herself in this position. She is playing well right now.”

After earning back-to-back C-USA Setter of the Week awards, Ogletree is averaging 11.18 assists per set, ranking 20^th in the NCAA.

“The setter’s role is like the quarterback of a football team and it takes a very mentally tough athlete to perform at that level,” Alvey said. “Her coming in as a freshman and performing at that level is pretty impressive.

“This stat has made me step back and take a closer look and appreciate her and what she is doing a little more. Not that I didn’t before, its just you lose sight when that is your driving force to running the team and executing. You are constantly talking to that person and getting them engaged, and sometimes you need to step back and see all they are accomplishing. She is doing a great job. I am so proud of her.”

UP NEXT

Houston will play host to UAB at 7 p.m., Oct. 21 at the Athletics/Alumni Center before heading to Memphis for a 1 p.m. match against the Tigers on Oct. 23.

Alumni Weekend

Volleyball Returns Home For Matches Against UTEP, UCF

The University of Houston volleyball team returns to its home court this weekend for the first time since Sept. 25 to host a pair of matches against UTEP and UCF at the Athletics/Alumni Center.

Houston (12-5; 5-2) opens the weekend with a 7 p.m. match Friday against the Miners and closes out the weekend with a 1 p.m. match Sunday against the Knights. The Cougars will be looking to improve on their 6-0 record at the AAC this season.

Fans can follow all of the weekend’s action through the Gametracker link on the volleyball schedule page at UHCougars.com. The live video feed will also be available on the Athletics site through the All-Access link.

The Cougars enter the weekend on a two-match win streak and winners of seven of their last nine matches. After guiding Houston to two wins last weekend against East Carolina, freshman Caitlin Ogletree was named the Conference USA Setter of the Week. The Montgomery, Texas, native averaged a C-USA weekly-best 13.57 assists and 2.86 digs against the Pirates.

Senior Lucy Charuk leads the team with 189 kills and a .399 hitting percentage, the second highest in C-USA. She also ranks fourth in blocks, averaging 1.29 per set. Freshman Natalie Keck paces the team with 276 digs and ranks eighth in the league with a 4.45 dig per set average.

UP NEXT

Houston will play host to UAB at 7 p.m., on Oct. 21 at the Athletics/Alumni Center before traveling to Memphis for a 1 p.m., match on Oct. 23.

Caitlin Ogletree Named C-USA Setter of the Week

Freshman Earns Second League Honor In Last Three Weeks

 HOUSTON – University of Houston volleyball freshman Caitlin Ogletree was named the Conference USA Setter of the Week the league office announced Monday.

Ogletree guided UH to two wins over East Carolina last weekend in Greenville to improve the Cougars’ record to 12-5 overall and 5-2 in C-USA play.

 The Montgomery, Texas, native finished with 95 assists, 20 digs, three service aces and two blocks against East Carolina. She ranks third in the league in assists, averaging 10.97 per set and finished the weekend averaging a C-USA weekly-best 13.57 assists and 2.86 digs per set against the Pirates.

Ogletree opened the weekend with 56 assists and 12 digs for her fourth double-double this season and closed out the weekend with 39 assists and eight digs on Sunday. On the season, Ogletree leads the team with 691 assists, 19 service aces and is third with 128 digs.

 This is Ogletree’s second Setter of the Week honor in the last three weeks.

 UP NEXT

After two weekends on the road, the Cougars return to Houston this weekend for a pair of matches against UTEP and UCF. UH will face the Miners at 7 p.m., Friday before closing out the weekend against the Knights at 1 p.m., Sunday.

Girls Day Out!