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September 10, 2004 > Sports > Carter’s kills carry volleyball past UTSA

Carter’s kills carry volleyball past UTSA

By Scott Selinger | Thresher staff

Though it finally has the talent to win the Western Athletic Conference, the volleyball team has lacked the consistency and mental toughness characteristic of a championship team so far this season. After struggling to beat the University of Texas-San Antonio Wednesday at Autry Court, the Owls will face more challenges this weekend at the UTSA Roadrunner Volleyball Invitational. Rice will face UTSA on its home court and will also play Iowa State University and Drake University. ‘The competition we’re going to face this weekend is going to vary,’ head coach Genny Volpe said. ‘Iowa State is out of the Big 12 and that’s always a great conference, so I’m looking for this week to gauge where we stand among some of the best teams in the country.’ On Wednesday, the Owls trailed by five points or more for most of the match’s first game and eventually fell behind 29-20, giving the Roadrunners nine match points. A kill by senior outside hitter Lindsey Carter gave Rice the serve, and junior outside hitter Olaya Pazo then served ten consecutive points to give the Owls a 31-29 victory. Carter had five kills in the 11 points Rice won to close out the first game. The Owls played better in the match’s second and third games, winning 30-23 and 30-24, respectively, behind Carter’s 24 kills in the match, one shy of her career best. ‘We just lost our focus for a little while,’ Carter said. ‘But we know our goals, and we know that if we want to get into the NCAA tournament, we can’t lose to teams like this. Now we know that when we pick it up, we can do anything.’ Freshman libero Yvette Kirk led the Owls with 18 digs, and her 55 digs through four matches this season also lead the team. Last weekend, the team traveled to Baton Rouge, La. for the Hurricane Frances Invitational, which LSU organized for teams displaced by the last-minute cancellation of various tournaments in central and south Florida due to the impending storm. The Owls swept their first opponent, the University of Central Florida, outhitting the Golden Knights .226 to -.065. ‘We beat Central Florida in three solid games,’ Volpe said. ‘It was a very scrappy team and they played really good defense, so it was a very good challenge for our hitters.’ Sophomore middle blocker Tessa Kuykendall led the Owls on defense, notching more than five of the team’s 12 blocks. Junior co-captain Kristina Hoban notched her first double-double of the year with 28 assists and 15 digs, while Carter and Kirk recorded double-digit digs as well. After cruising to a 30-15, 30-19, 30-25 victory over UCF, Rice faced its first legitimate challenge of the season in LSU. ‘Against LSU, it was an absolute battle,’ Volpe said. ‘We lost the third game 36-34, and that was really pivotal for us because we fought so hard. We did turn around and win the fourth game, but LSU started getting their momentum back at the end and that carried over to game five.’ Carter matched her career-best with 25 kills and added 13 digs for one of three double-doubles for the Owls. Senior outside hitter Rebeca Pazo had 15 kills and 11 digs, while Hoban contributed 54 assists and 13 digs. ‘LSU came out strong and we just weren’t ready for them,’ Hoban said. ‘We didn’t play as well as we’d been playing in practice because I think we were just expecting to be able to coast over some teams — we just didn’t come out ready to play.’

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