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November 2, 2007 > Sports > Volleyball heads on the road for rematch with Tulane

Volleyball heads on the road for rematch with Tulane

By Natalie Clericuzio | Thresher staff

Sometimes, the team with the better stats does not always come away with a win. Unfortunately for the volleyball team, that situation happened last weekend. Despite dominating both Marshall University and East Carolina University at home, Rice lost both matches to fall back in the Conference USA standings.

The Owls (10-14, 5-7 C-USA) hope to even the season score with Tulane University tonight at 7 p.m. in New Orleans, La. Rice fell to Tulane earlier this season in a 3-1 loss. Tulane (23-5, 11-2 C-USA) is currently second in Conference USA, having only lost to the University of Houston and conference-leader Marshall. The Green Wave leads the C-USA in hitting percentage, assists and kills and is riding a six-game winning streak heading into the weekend. Despite Tulane’s formidable resume, freshman libero Tracey Lam said the team’s size will help stymie their opponent’s hitters.

“I think we’re a good match with Tulane because they have really big hitters and our blocking’s been starting to pick up, so it’ll be interesting to see how that turns out,” she said.

Rice will then travel to El Paso, Texas, to take on the University of Texas-El Paso on Sunday at 1 p.m. UTEP (8-16, 2-11 C-USA) has struggled for most of the season, and now finds itself near the bottom of the conference standings, ahead of only the University of Southern Mississippi and University of Central Florida. The Owls and the Miners have already met once this season: Rice dominated their in-state foes 3-0 on Oct. 12.

Home for the second weekend in a row, Rice started slowly against the top team in the conference, Marshall (18-8, 11-1 C-USA) last Friday. The Thundering Herd opened strong, scoring the first three points of the match to build an 8-3 lead. But Rice refused to give in, coming back to take the lead at 27-26 before closing out the game 30-28 with consecutive kills from sophomore middle blocker Natalie Bogan and freshman setter Meredith Schamun.

Rice then came out and grabbed a quick 8-4 lead in the second game, which they maintained until Marshall garnered a 28-27 advantage. Despite coming back to tie the game at 29 and 30, the Owls was unable to subdue the Thundering Herd, falling 32-30. Marshall was back in control at the start of game three, going on a 6-0 run and another 7-0 run midway through to win 30-24.

The fourth game was far and away the most hotly contested as each team traded points without anyone gaining a definitive lead. However, Marshall established a four-point lead at 27-23 and maintained the advantage to take the game.

Head coach Genny Volpe said despite the eventual score, her team competed well with the conference leaders.

“We played great defense, and that’s typically been our forte for this year,” she said. “I was really proud of the team’s focus coming in. … It was nice to see them come in, play confidently, attack them hard and play great defense.”

On Sunday, Rice hoped to finally defeat ECU (13-14, 4-8 C-USA) after losing to the Pirates in five straight games over the past two seasons. But it was not to be, as the Owls once again went the distance only to fall in the final game.

In game one, Rice built an early 12-5 lead and maintained an advantage throughout the frame on the way to a 30-23 win. Game two began similarly, with Rice coming out to an 11-6 lead. However, ECU made a comeback, tying the game up at 27. After a second tie at 30, ECU hit two consecutive kills to take the game.

The match shifted in the third game, with the two teams trading points to an 18-18 deadlock. The Pirates then went on to score five straight points, and, although the Owls came back within one, ECU took the game 30-27.

Down two games to one, Rice came out in the fourth game with a vengeance, blasting their way to a 7-1 advantage. Despite a couple sparse threats from ECU, Rice pushed through for a 30-21 win, forcing the match to five games once again.

The Owls took an early 7-2 lead to start the final game. However, ECU bounced back and tied the game at nine points apiece. Unable to harness the momentum in their favor, Rice dropped the last game 15-13.

“ECU’s such a scrappy team and they always have been,” Volpe said. “They’ve beaten us the last two years in five games and … it’s frustrating to let them beat us like that in our home gym.”

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