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August 24, 2007 > Sports > Deep, experienced team looks for postseason berth

Deep, experienced team looks for postseason berth

By Dylan Farmer | Thresher Editorial Staff

When the volleyball team takes the court tonight at 7 p.m. for the first of three matches scheduled for this weekend’s Mizuno Invitational Tournament, it will do so as a squad already battle-tested by intense summer workouts, three weeks of two-a-day practices and a home court change.

At first glance, an outsider might think these players have already spent a season’s worth of energy before even getting to the first serve, but head coach Genny Volpe said her Owls have not been getting tired. Instead, they are simply more focused on their goal of winning a C-USA championship and taking an NCAA tournament berth.

“I’ve seen a strong sense of determination from the team, and the general feel is that we’re just more confident going into the season,” Volpe said. “They worked out and trained hard over the summer and [arrived] in really good shape. That’s exciting because that tells me that they’re serious about coming in ahead of the game, instead of coming in to play catch-up.”

Of the 14 players on the roster, 10 are returning lettermen, and 5 of them have two or more years of playing time for Rice. Of the five sophomores, none played in fewer than 19 of Rice’s 31 matches last season, and one, outside hitter Jennifer McClean, started every match. Even without senior middle blocker Tessa Kuykendall, who exhausted her four years of playing eligibility, this squad has plenty of experience compared to last year’s.

“Last year, for the most part only [Kuykendall] and I had a lot of court experience,” senior libero Yvette Kirk said. “It gave the freshmen a chance to learn. So even though we don’t have a lot of years out there still, we have more experience than we’ve had the last few seasons.”

Kirk is one of three seniors on the team, joining setter/outside hitter Rachel Lopez and outside hitter Kristina Dennemann to form the team’s trio of leaders. She has by far the most experience of any player on the team, starting 345 consecutive games since the first match of her freshman season. Last season, she broke Rice’s single-season record for digs with five matches to go, and finished with 569 on the year — 105 more than the previous mark. She enters this season needing just 85 to break the all-time career record.

Lopez put up her own set of impressive numbers last season, recording 1,387 assists in for third-highest mark in Rice volleyball history. Limited in her playing time as a freshman and sophomore, she emerged last season as an integral part of Volpe’s game plan, and with a number of athletes competing for the setter position, she could see more time on the outside.

Dennemann bounced back from an injury-riddled sophomore season with a limited but effective junior campaign, recording nine matches with double-digit digs and a 0.32 ace-per-game average — good for second on the team. This season, she looks to remain the Owls’ primary passer, offering the team a good offensive option out of the back row.

Volpe said she will look to the three seniors to provide intangible motivation, as well as a broad perspective on the team’s capabilities. They are the only players remaining from Rice’s 2004 NCAA tournament squad.

“I think more than anything, I want [the seniors] to provide a sense of urgency, because it is their last season,” Volpe said. “These athletes, more than any of them, know that we have what it takes to get on top, and they’re trying to do their part to get us back there, on top of C-USA and back into the NCAA tournament.”

Supporting the seniors in their drive for one more postseason appearance is a whole cast of talented teammates who, this season, are contributing to one of the more deep and balanced teams Rice has seen in recent years.

At outside hitter, Volpe has a number of options. First and foremost is Karyn Morgan, who has started all but one match in her career and last year posted 440 kills and 420 digs, becoming just the fourth player in team history to reach 400 in both categories in a single season. McClean is another strong contender for a starting position, after posting a 2.60 kills-per-game mark and contributing 404 digs in her inaugural season. She also threw in a team-leading 0.35 aces per game. Sophomore Jessie Boulavsky is also no stranger to the starting lineup — she made 14 starts in 28 matches played last season, contributing 173 kills for a solid 1.57 per-game average.

Yet another option, junior Jessica Holderness is in line for some possible starts. Last season, she demonstrated excellent potential on the outside before succumbing to preseason injuries, returning only for the last three matches of the season. However, her 3.00 kills-per-game and 4.62 digs-per-game numbers in those three contests leave Volpe with plenty to consider when deciding her playing time. Wrapping up the outside hitters is newcomer Justyna Brewczyk, a native of Poland. The only left-handed hitter on the team, she could provide the offense with a valuable change of pace.

The team also has plenty of depth at middle blocker, where for four years Kuykendall anchored a stingy Rice defense. Sophomore Natalie Bogan made an immediate impact last year, starting 28 matches and contributing 116 blocks, second on the team. She looks to continue that trend this season. However, also in close contention are redshirt sophomore Ekaette Shammah, who made 29 appearances last season, and freshman Caroline Gill, a high school all-American with the skills to contribute immediately at the collegiate level.

At the setter position, Rice has two possible options behind Lopez. The first is sophomore Channing Grigsby, who made nine effective starts last season, finishing with 111 assists. The second is newcomer Meredith Schamun, an athletic California native with plenty of club experience.

At libero, the Owls have little reason not to assume that Kirk will start and finish every game, but if needed, Volpe can ask for a contribution from Tracey Lam, a freshman walk-on with excellent ball skills and passing smarts.

Obviously, this year’s roster is full of talent, but even with competition at every position, Volpe said team cohesiveness will not be a problem.

“There’s a really good team dynamic,” she said. “They work really well together. I think the practices have been very intense, and at this point they’re just ready to play, to see how all this hard work is going to pay off.”

When Rice does takes floor tonight against Louisiana Tech University, technically it will be a home match, though fans might consider it an unfamiliar court. Fox Gym, located next to the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium and formerly just a practice location, has become the Owls’ temporary home while Autry undergoes renovations. However, despite its lack of the usual locker-room and athlete-support accoutrements, the team is accepting the change well.

“I really think that this is going to be a positive for the team,” Volpe said. “Fox Gym can potentially be the toughest place to play in C-USA. If the fans embrace it, if they come and support us, they’ll find out that 100 people in the stands will sound like 1,000. The proximity of fans to players is really tight in Fox, and we’re going to use that to our advantage.”

Rice will need that energy as they open up the season, especially since they have three NCAA-caliber opponents scheduled in the first two weekends of play. This weekend, after facing Louisiana Tech, the squad will take on Oral Roberts, which took last year’s Mid-Continent Conference crown for an automatic bid to the postseason. They fell to the University of Oklahoma in the first round. Next weekend the Owls take on both Louisiana State University and the University of Illinois in the second Mizuno Invitational of the year, also scheduled to be held in Fox Gym. LSU is ranked 23rd by the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, and last year the Tigers recorded their second consecutive Southeastern Conference West crown by virtue of a 26-6 overall record. They fell to California in the NCAA first round. Illinois, a perennial Big 10 Conference contender, fell to Ohio State in last season’s Big 10 tournament, but with a number of returning lettermen and the nation’s sixth-ranked recruiting class, the Fighting Illini should be a formidable foe.

Other opponents of note this season are Wake Forest University, contenders in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and Stephen. F. Austin, defending champions of the Southland Conference. The Owls play those teams at the University of Houston Tournament, scheduled for Sept. 13-15 at the UH Alumni Center.

C-USA play starts Sept. 23 at home against the University of Central Florida, and continues until Nov. 10 against Southern Methodist University. The C-USA tournament will be held Nov. 15-18 at Marshall University in Huntington, W. Va.

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