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October 26, 2007 > Sports > Volleyball takes on top team in C-USA tonight

Volleyball takes on top team in C-USA tonight

By Natalie Clericuzio | Thresher staff

In volleyball, like any sport, resilience is a necessity for success. And after following a pair of disheartening losses with a 3-0 thrashing of the University of Alabama-Birmingham in Birmingham, Ala., this past weekend, the Owls proved that they know how to bounce back.

However, this past weekend, Rice (10-12, 5-5 Conference USA) fell to the University of Memphis 3-0 before downing UAB by the same score.

Tonight, the Owls hope to upset Conference USA-leader Marshall University at 7 p.m. in Fox Gym. Marshall (16-8, 9-1 C-USA) has dominated C-USA opponents this season, losing only to UAB in a five-game match. After winning the conference championship two years ago, the Thundering Herd swept the Owls in the two teams’ only meeting of the season.

Marshall will be Rice’s toughest test of the C-USA season. The Thundering Herd is highly ranked in the C-USA in assists, kills and hitting percentage. Marshall’s biggest threat comes from their three-time All-American senior outside hitter Kelly-Ann Billingy, who is second in the conference with 4.99 kills per game and seventh in hitting percentage.

“Marshall has a good block, they’ve got Billingy on the team, and they’ve just got a lot of experience,” head coach Genny Volpe said. “I’m glad we’re coming up against a good strong opponent that’s going to test us.”

Rice will also host East Carolina University at 1 p.m. in Fox Gym Sunday. ECU (12-13, 3-7 C-USA) has struggled against conference opponents this season and is currently ranked ninth in C-USA standings. The Pirates are also near the bottom of the pack in nearly every major statistical category.

Returning home from a brief road swing, Rice began last weekend’s matches with a slow start against Memphis (18-9, 7-3 C-USA). The match began with both teams trading points until the score was tied at 12. However, Memphis nabbed the lead with four straight kills and maintained their advantage to take the opening game.

After dropping the second frame 30-23, Rice kept pace with the Tigers in the third game until freshman setter Meredith Schamun put together five straight points to give Rice the first significant lead of the match at 20-15. However, Memphis would not be deterred, and responded with its own offensive attack to take the game 30-28 and the match 3-0.

The offense was mediocre against Memphis, hitting a season-low .020 as a team. Sophomore middle blocker Natalie Bogan was the lone bright spot for the Owls, hitting .381 overall with 12 kills.

On Sunday, Rice appeared much more focused in their 3-0 sweep of UAB (17-7, 7-3 C-USA), who at the time had the second-best record in the conference. Bogan once again led the Owls, posting 17 kills and hitting .448 alongside sophomore outside hitter Jessie Boulavsky’s 14 kills and .443 hitting percentage. On the other side of the ball, junior outside hitter Karyn Morgan and freshman libero Tracey Lam each posted 18 digs.

Two weeks ago, Rice split two road matches, starting with a 3-0 sweep of the University of Texas-El Paso. Junior outside hitter Jessica Holderness’ strong play on both sides of the ball and led the Owls to victory over UTEP (8-14, 2-9 C-USA) two weekends ago, contributing 12 kills and 20 digs to Rice’s effort. Despite falling behind in the third game, Rice came back to complete the shutout over the Miners in three straight games.

The contest against Tulane (21-5, 9-2 C-USA) two days later was a much greater challenge for the Owls. The loss was not for lack of effort, as Lam posted a career-high 27 digs in the match, helping to garner her C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors Oct. 15. Bogan, Holderness and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer McClean all had double digits in kills offensively. However, Tulane, which is currently second in the C-USA, was just too much for Rice to handle.

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