Hurricanes Open Season at the Houston Invitational
Sept. 1, 2005
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball team will kick off the 2005 season at the Houston Invitational September 2-3 in Houston, Texas where the Hurricanes are slated to face Arkansas State Friday at 11:00 a.m. (CST) in their season opener. Saturday they will take on Sam Houston State at 11:00 a.m. (CST) before facing tournament host Houston at 8:00 p.m. (CST).
The Hurricanes, picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, return eight letterwinners, including four starters, and add four newcomers to the fold. Last season, Miami finished second in the final league standings after closing out their inaugural season in the ACC with an 11-5 record and a 17-9 overall mark.
The Hurricanes capped off their preseason training with a 3-0 (30-20, 30-19, 30-19) win over the alumni in their first-ever alumni match Saturday afternoon at the Knight Sports Complex.
Among the standouts were senior outside hitter Karla Johnson, a Preseason All-ACC selection and redshirt junior middle blocker Frannie Savage. Johnson posted a double-double (13 kills, 15 digs) while Savage led all players with 15 kills.
Scouting the Opponents…
Arkansas State: The Lady Indians (0-0), who will open their season at the Houston Invitational, are coming off a banner season as the Tribe won its ninth Sun Belt Conference regular season title as it was East Division Co-Champions. Arkansas State finished the season with a 25-8 record overall and posted a perfect 14-0 mark at home.
Arkansas State returns eight players and five newcomers. Six of the eight returning players started at least 12 matches last season and include four who started at least 20 matches. The Lady Indians are led by Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection Katie Peil who was also tabbed the 2004 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year.
The Lady Rebels were picked to finish second in East Division in the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
Sam Houston State:Sam Houston State will open its 2005 volleyball season in Houston instead of New Orleans this weekend.
With the Tulane Invitational canceled due to Hurricane Katrina, the Bearkats have been invited to participate in the University of Houston’s tournament which also will feature Mississippi, Arkansas State, and Miami.
Picked to finish fifth in the Southland Conference, the Bearkats welcome back seven letterwinners including four starters from last year’s Bearkat squad that returned to the Southland Conference post-season tournament after a seven-year absence.
Two Bearkats, seniors Alisha Fowler and Chrissy Engle, were voted preseason All-Southland Conference by the league’s head coaches. The Bearkats finished last season tied for sixth place in the Southland Conference with a 10-10 mark and a 16-15 record overall.
Houston:The Cougars (2-1), who were picked to finish first in the West Division of the Conference-USA Preseason Coaches Poll, captured the Houston Tournament last weekend with wins over Stephen F. Austin and Texas Tech. For her play at the Houston Tournament, senior Kariny Ritter was named the C-USA Player of the Week.
Houston returns five starters headlined by 2004 C-USA defensive Player of the Year Jaci Gonzalez and C-USA Third Team selection Kelly McAnelly.
Last season, the Cougars posted an 11-21 record, finishing eighth in the Conference USA with a 5-8 mark.
