Nov. 2, 2001

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - After splitting the first two games, the University of Houston volleyball team roared out of the locker room following the break to win the next two games and take a 3-1 victory Friday over Southern Mississippi at the Payne Center.

UH (12-9, 9-3 C-USA) collected its seventh win its last eight matches and defeated Southern Miss for the 11th consecutive match in the all-time series.

After sitting out the first game, senior outside hitter Jennifer Wittenburg joined the Cougar lineup and made her presence immediately felt with 11 kills in her first game of the night.

The Houston native finished the match with 27 kills and 10 digs. In addition, Wittenburg moved past Karen Bell into fifth place in school career history with 1,214 kills and needs only 12 more kills to move into fourth place.

Middle hitter Jenny Tanneberger added 15 kills with only two errors in 28 chances for a match-best .464 attack percentage and added seven total blocks. Defensively, Gabi Carbone led all players with 21 digs.

USM (7-17, 2-11 C-USA) lost its 11th straight match. Kelly Tribble recorded 15 kills and 10 digs, with Brynn Olsson and Nicki Tribble adding 10 digs apiece.

The Cougars wrap up their 2001 C-USA regular season road schedule when they face Tulane for the second time this season in a 7 p.m. match Saturday in New Orleans, La. UH claimed a 3-2 victory over the Green Wave on Sept. 23 in Hofheinz Pavilion.