Volleyball continues its road woes
For most college students, weekends are a time of relaxation. But for the volleyball team, last weekend was anything but easy. The team dropped three straight matches at last weekend’s Houston Invitational, lowering its record to 5-8 on the season.
Tonight the Owls will continue conference play against the University of Southern Mississippi at 7 p.m. in Hattiesburg, Miss. And on Sunday, the team will return home to face off against the University of Central Florida at 1 p.m. in Fox Gym. Rice tallied victories against both of these squads in their 2006 meetings, including rallying from a 2-1 deficit to slip past the Knights.
Last week’s tournament, held at the UH Alumni Center, began Thursday when the Owls faced host University of Houston. Although the match started out with two quick kills in Rice’s favor, the Cougars responded with an 8-0 run to jump out ahead and eventually take the first game. Head coach Genny Volpe said the team had a difficult time responding to the fast start.
“They attacked us with their serve and that took us out of rhythm,” she said. “We never got back on track.”
The second game followed a similar pattern, with Rice jumping to an early 4-2 lead. However, Houston wasted no time getting back into the game, tying it up at 4-4. Spurred by a kill from their outside hitter Justine Farmer, the Cougars soon pushed the score out of reach and took the game 30-23.
Rice came out strong in the third game of the match and a 10-1 run gave the squad a 19-16 advantage. However, the Cougars would not be denied. Even two late-game kills from sophomore middle blocker Natalie Bogan and junior outside hitter Jessica Holderness could not save the match, as Rice fell 30-27. Senior libero and captain Yvette Kirk was disappointed by the loss to the cross-town rival.
“I wish we could’ve responded better to the challenge,” she said. “It’s always really fun playing them [but] that was a really disappointing loss.”
Rice faced another tough opponent Friday against Wake Forest University. Bogan came out strong for the second night in a row with 13 kills, accompanied by 17 digs from Holderness and 26 assists from sophomore setter Channing Grigsby. A quick 5-1 Wake run to start the match caught Rice on its heels and the Owls fell 30-25 to the Demon Deacons.
The second game was more hotly contested, with Rice keeping up with Wake Forest all the way to the end. After an early 7-3 run by the Demon Deacons, Rice came back to close within one point at 12-11. The rest of the game involved quick back and forth play, but Wake Forest held on to take the second game 30-28.
Rice played well throughout the final frame and soon the score was knotted up at 22. But a Wake Forest ace jump-started a 4-0 run and Rice was defeated 30-25. The 3-0 sweep from the Atlantic Coast Conference opponent was not expected, Volpe said.
“We certainly were not outmatched by Wake Forest,” she said. “I felt like we should’ve competed a lot stronger, so I was a little surprised by the team’s response and I think they were surprised at themselves.”
The tournament concluded for Rice with a scrappy five-game match against Stephen F. Austin University on Saturday. Four Owls earned double-digit kills and Grigsby continued to impress, notching a career-best 59 assists in the match.
The two squads were evenly matched, splitting the first two games. The third game was tight throughout, with each team trading points and tying the score 10-10. But the Lady Jacks went on a late run and its 19-15 lead proved too much to overcome. In the penultimate game, Rice forced its way back into the match, thanks to an early 3-0 advantage and serving miscues from the Lady Jacks.
Tied at two games apiece, the match moved to a decisive fifth game. The Owls came out firing and stuck an early 4-2 lead. Unfortunately, that was the last Rice lead of the game, as its dropped the final game 15-10.
Other sports stories
- Injuries plague the Owls, but experience keeps morale high
- Men's tennis struggles to keep pace in season opener
- Owls fall to Islanders at Rice Invitational
- Red Raiders use the big play to outshoot Owls
- Sid Rich throttles Baker 26-0 to start Powderpuff season
- Women's cross dominates opener
News
- BitTorrent sites banned by Rice IT
- Brinkley lectures on new book about Hurricane Katrina
- Constitution Day faculty panel addresses affirmative action
- Documentary raises question of global dimming
- mtvU to be added to campus TV listings
- News in Brief
- The votes are in
- White dispels leadership myths
Arts & Entertainment
- Charming thieves of Ladron entertain
- Girard's Silk stuns with visual beauty, disappoints with plot
- Marvels from Ethiopia and China on view at HMNS
- Remembering the fun and music of Austin City Limits