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September 15, 2006 > Sports > Volleyball beats No. 21 Arizona in road match

Volleyball beats No. 21 Arizona in road match

By Dylan Farmer | Thresher Editorial Staff

The volleyball team made Rice history in the final match of last weekend’s Four Points Sheraton Wildcat Classic in Tucson, Ariz. The Owls’ win over the 21st-ranked host Arizona Wildcats in five sets marked only the third defeat of a ranked team in the program’s 27-year history. This weekend, the Owls (6-4) have a chance to build on their success as they travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to compete in the Nike Challenge, hosted by the 22nd-ranked University of Michigan.

“We want to carry this momentum into next weekend,” junior libero Yvette Kirk said. “I feel like these two weekends are a chance for us to make a big statement.”

Friday evening, Rice will face the unranked University of New Hampshire (1-8), which lost to the University of Texas-San Antonio last Saturday. UTSA defeated the Owls 3-2 Sept. 2 at Autry Court.

Saturday, the team faces unranked Indiana-Purdue University-Fort Wayne (6-6) before challenging Michigan later in the evening. The Wolverines (10-0) have had some impressive wins this season, including a three-game sweep of then 20th-ranked University of San Diego Sept. 1.

“I knew Michigan would be a great opponent when I scheduled them,” head coach Genny Volpe said. “It’s going to be a challenge on their home court, but I think the team has proven that they’re not intimidated by that kind of situation.”

After splitting matches against Montana State University and Bradley, Rice took the floor Saturday against Arizona, whose only loss of the season came from the University of Dayton Sept 2.

Following what at that point had become a common trend in the tournament, Rice had to come from behind in game one. Behind nine kills and a .429 hitting percentage from outside hitter Jennifer McClean, the team erased a 15-9 deficit and eventually tied the score at 28-28. McClean recorded the last two points of the game, and the Owls won 30-28.

Rice again started lethargically in game two, allowing the Wildcats to score the first seven points and reach a 17-6 lead. In response, freshman Channing Grigsby served seven straight points as redshirt freshman middle blocker Ekaette Ibok and junior setter Rachel Lopez notched two kills apiece, and the Owls crept within two points. Arizona charged back, however, rebuilding an eight-point lead and holding on for a 30-22 game victory.

Game three saw a 6-1 Rice lead evaporate early, but the Owls regained both their composure and the momentum behind five straight service points from freshman middle blocker Natalie Bogan. Several Rice attack errors allowed Arizona to tie the game at 17, but the Owls relied on multiple kills from senior middle blocker Tessa Kuykendall, sophomore outside hitter Karyn Morgan, and sophomore outside hitter Jessica May to take a 30-23 victory.

In game four, offensive inefficiency plagued the Owls, who recorded errors on 11 of their first 12 shot attempts. Arizona quickly capitalized to take a 16-7 lead that Rice could not overcome, despite late offensive efforts. Appropriately enough, Rice committed two attack errors to end the game, which the Wildcats won 30-17.

In the fifth game, the Owls looked to Kuykendall, who bolstered the offense with four kills. With Rice leading 12-11, the level of play on both sides turned sour, and the last five points of the match all came on errors. After Morgan hit into a Wildcat team block to make the score 14-13, Arizona gave the Owls a free point and the match victory on Whitney Dosty’s attack error.

Rice was solid on defense, led by Kirk’s 20 digs. Morgan followed with 19 digs, which combined with her 15 kills for her sixth consecutive double-double. Lopez recorded a team-high 70 assists.

In their first of three five-game matches last weekend, the Owls fell to Montana State 30-28, 30-21, 17-30, 26-30, 15-10.

The Bobcats squeaked by in the first game, taking advantage of the inconsistent Rice offense. The Owls attempted a number of rallies, including a 5-0 run to tie the game at 17, but Montana beat back their last attempt to hold on to the game.

Rice dropped the second game as well but returned refreshed after the break, holding Montana State to a -.091 hitting percentage in the third game. In the fourth, the teams were even at 25 points a piece before Kuykendall scored the first two kills of a 5-1 rally, tying the match at two apiece and forcing a deciding fifth game.

The Owls began the game with a 4-0 lead, but Montana State quickly countered the run with a 7-1 rally of their own and held on to take the game and the match victory.

Kuykendall finished the match with 19 kills and 7 blocks, and Morgan had 17 digs to go along with 17 kills of her own. However, Rice’s .155 match hitting percentage ultimately doomed them.

Kirk said the loss could be attributed to a sluggish start.

“I think we need to focus at the beginning of the game,” Kirk said. “We didn’t do that, and that’s why we lost to Montana. If we [can work on] that, and come out strong, I think we’ll be a lot better of a team.”

Against Bradley Saturday, the Owls again found themselves struggling to come from behind, dropping the second and third games after handily winning game one 30-16. Kuykendall provided the early spark for the Owl offense, scoring 6 of her 14 kills in that game.

In games two and three, slow Rice starts meant the team had to depend on rallies to keep the score close. Battling back from a six-point deficit in game two, the team tied the score at 24 before the offense fizzled out, and Bradley took the game 30-27. The same story continued after the break. Bradley came out strong, opening a 21-12 lead that was answered by Rice’s 15-5 run behind the serving of Morgan and Grigsby. Once again, however, Rice’s offense stalled, and Bradley held on for a 30-28 victory.

In game four, it was Bradley’s offense that fell short. The Owls took advantage of several attack errors to build a 21-14 lead. They held on to win 30-20 and force a final deciding fifth game.

In game five, Rice and Bradley traded blows to tie game at 12 points each before the Owls scored the final three points — winning the set despite hitting a lowly .111. Morgan won the set and victory with her 14th kill of the match. The Owls also had a fine showing from McClean, who led the team with 16 kills.

“It was encouraging to see the team turn around for the match against Bradley,” Volpe said. “It wasn’t the prettiest match by any means for either side, and it wasn’t always great volleyball, but it was awesome to see [the team] pull together and do whatever it took to win.”

Kuykendall said while she is happy with the five-set victories, she would prefer the team to become more efficient.

“I think [playing so many] five-game matches really gave us a lot of advantage over Arizona, because we’re used to matches that long. But now we want to use all our endurance in three games. We want to start stronger in the first games and not just wait until the end to turn it on.”

Kuykendall had 46 kills on the weekend, and she was awarded the MVP award for her 3.07 kpg and 1.07 bpg averages. She was also the Conference USA female athlete of the week for last weekend’s play and her .579 hitting percentage against McNeese State Sept. 6.

Despite the impressive numbers, Volpe said Kuykendall’s greatest achievement last weekend was her leadership.

“She was good statistically, but more than anything she looked great as a leader,” Volpe said. “She really inspired the team, and they rallied around her the entire weekend. She was very motivated, more vocal than ever, and it was nice to see that come through.”

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