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November 3, 2006 > Sports > Volleyball sets records, splits final two home matches

Volleyball sets records, splits final two home matches

By Dylan Farmer | Thresher Editorial Staff

Fans of the volleyball team were rewarded with a historical weekend at Autry Court, as both junior libero Yvette Kirk and senior middle blocker Tessa Kuykendall set new Rice individual records during the Owls’ final homestand of the year. However, Rice could not pull off a weekend sweep, defeating Southern Methodist University in four sets but losing to Conference USA-leading Tulsa University in five.

Kirk, who led the team with 371 digs in 2005, broke Rice’s single-season record with her 465th dig against SMU. After adding 22 more in the loss to Tulsa, Kirk had 487 digs on the year with three matches to play, making an above-500 finish a near certainty. Leigh Leman (Lovett ‘02) set the previous mark of 464 in 2000.

Kuykendall, who has led the Owls in blocks in all three of her previous years at Rice, became the Owls’ all-time leader with five blocks against Tulsa, bringing her career total to 523 and breaking Briana Cook’s (Baker ‘03) previous mark of 520.

“Ever since [head coach Genny Volpe] got here in my sophomore year I definitely have improved on my blocking and getting stronger at the net,” Kuykendall said. “I think it’s a big honor, and hopefully I can improve on it since we have three matches left.”

Rice (12-15, 5-8 C-USA) faced Houston last night at the University of Houston Alumni Center, and next weekend they have rematches at Tulsa, which is currently tied for first with Marshall, and SMU to finish the regular season. After those games, the team will cross town to UH for the C-USA tournament. The Owls are currently tied for ninth in the conference, and with the tournament’s four first round byes out of reach, Volpe said the team just hopes to finish the season with some progress.

“Getting some confidence and momentum going into the conference tournament is exactly what we’re looking for,” she said. “Win or los,e these next three matches we have to play good volleyball — solid defense and execution.”

Friday, Rice found consistency against SMU (13-13, 4-8), hitting .283 for the four-game match. The Owls took the first two games behind solid attacks, and after the Mustangs squeaked by with a late run in the third, Rice rebounded with a victory in the fourth. Kirk’s 12 digs anchored a defense that had four players in double digits, and led by freshman Jennifer McClean’s 23, the Owls had 74 digs on the match. The offense rose to the occasion as well, led by junior Karyn Morgan’s 23 kills and McClean’s 19, four players produced double digit numbers.

On Sunday against Tulsa (23-6, 10-3), Rice could not sustain its offensive production for the entire match. The team forced the Golden Hurricane to five games, but ultimately fell short of a win. The highlight of the match came in game one, when the Owls turned a 20-9 deficit into a 31-29 game victory behind several of freshman Natalie Bogan’s 14 kills in the match. The Owls and the Golden Hurricane alternated the next three games, and the match entered a deciding fifth set — the 13th time Rice has played a five-game match this season.

“That was one of the best volleyball matches we’ve seen all year,” Volpe said. “Tulsa’s a great team, and we outplayed them several times. In game five we just fell flat, which was discouraging, but overall I was pleased with the level of play.”

Kuykendall and McClean led the team with 18 kills apiece, and Morgan added another 14 as the team again finished with four players in double digits. Rice also out-blocked Tulsa 14-4 for the match.

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