using (SPWeb oWeb = siteh2.OpenWeb())
            {

                //SPWeb oWeb = SPControl.GetContextSite(Context).OpenWeb();
                SPList oList = oWeb.Lists[theList];

                SPQuery oQuery = new SPQuery();
                oQuery.Query = "<Where><Eq><FieldRef Name='" + matchColumnName + "' />" +
                    "<Value Type='Text'>" + valueToMatch + "</Value></Eq></Where>";

                //oQuery.Query = "<Query><Where><Eq><FieldRef Name='Username' /><Value Type='Text'>whelanp</Value></Eq></Where></Query>";

                SPListItemCollection results = oList.GetItems(oQuery);

                if (results.Count == 0)
                    return "";

                foreach (SPListItem oListItem in results)
                {
                    return cleanValue(oListItem[returnColumnName].ToString());
                }

                return "";

            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            return "";
        }


    }