Volleyball Star Jessica Houts Out For Season With Torn ACL
9/13/2007 10:00:00 AM | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. - Jessica Houts, a junior on the Creighton volleyball team, will miss the remainder of the 2007 season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee.
The middle blocker from Bloomington, Minn., was injured while landing during warm-ups prior to Creighton's Sept. 11 win at Drake. Additional medical tests in Omaha on Wednesday confirmed the severity of the injury.
Houts is slated to undergo surgery on her injured knee in the near future once swelling is reduced. Recovery typically takes between five to nine months.
A second-team all-MVC pick in 2006, Houts was leading Creighton's 2007 team in points per game (4.42), kills per game (3.35) and blocks per game (1.65). Her 1.65 blocks per game currently ranks 11th nationally, and she was also among the top-500 nationally in kills per game, hitting percentage and assists per game.
In just 68 career matches, Houts' name is all over the Bluejay volleyball record books. She already ranks fourth in points per game (3.98), total blocks (308), block solos (47) and block assists (261), fifth in hitting percentage (.247) and points (938.5), sixth with 3.14 kills per game, eighth with 740 kills. She is also the career leader in blocks per game at 1.31.
Houts had been named to All-Tournament Teams each of the past two weekends, both at the State Farm Illini Classic and the Holiday Inn Downtown Classic, prior to her injury.
If there is a silver lining, it is the timing of her injury. A new NCAA rule that went into effect in August now allows medical hardship waivers (commonly called medical redshirts) for student-athletes that play in no more than 30 percent of a team's matches and suffer a season-ending injury in the first half of the season. The old rule had been 20 percent. Houts played in eight of Creighton's scheduled 29 matches (27.6 percent) and is likely to be approved for an additional season of eligibility should she apply at season's end.
Creighton (5-4, 1-0 MVC) returns to action on Friday when it plays Green Bay at 5 pm at the Gopher Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. Creighton then plays Charlotte at 10 am on Saturday before closing tournament play that night versus 13th-ranked Minnesota.
The middle blocker from Bloomington, Minn., was injured while landing during warm-ups prior to Creighton's Sept. 11 win at Drake. Additional medical tests in Omaha on Wednesday confirmed the severity of the injury.
Houts is slated to undergo surgery on her injured knee in the near future once swelling is reduced. Recovery typically takes between five to nine months.
A second-team all-MVC pick in 2006, Houts was leading Creighton's 2007 team in points per game (4.42), kills per game (3.35) and blocks per game (1.65). Her 1.65 blocks per game currently ranks 11th nationally, and she was also among the top-500 nationally in kills per game, hitting percentage and assists per game.
In just 68 career matches, Houts' name is all over the Bluejay volleyball record books. She already ranks fourth in points per game (3.98), total blocks (308), block solos (47) and block assists (261), fifth in hitting percentage (.247) and points (938.5), sixth with 3.14 kills per game, eighth with 740 kills. She is also the career leader in blocks per game at 1.31.
Houts had been named to All-Tournament Teams each of the past two weekends, both at the State Farm Illini Classic and the Holiday Inn Downtown Classic, prior to her injury.
If there is a silver lining, it is the timing of her injury. A new NCAA rule that went into effect in August now allows medical hardship waivers (commonly called medical redshirts) for student-athletes that play in no more than 30 percent of a team's matches and suffer a season-ending injury in the first half of the season. The old rule had been 20 percent. Houts played in eight of Creighton's scheduled 29 matches (27.6 percent) and is likely to be approved for an additional season of eligibility should she apply at season's end.
Creighton (5-4, 1-0 MVC) returns to action on Friday when it plays Green Bay at 5 pm at the Gopher Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. Creighton then plays Charlotte at 10 am on Saturday before closing tournament play that night versus 13th-ranked Minnesota.
Players Mentioned
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