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November 16, 2007 > Sports > Volleyball splits final home matches, advances to C-USA tournament

Volleyball splits final home matches, advances to C-USA tournament

By Natalie Clericuzio | Thresher staff

If indeed the volleyball team’s season is still going by tomorrow morning, it will be due to the fact that the Owls knocked off two teams: one which does not pose much a of a threat, but the other who was one of the toughest teams in the conference. After an easy 3-0 victory over the University of Texas El-Paso in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament, Rice (13-16, 7-9 C-USA) will take on Tulane University today at 11 a.m. All C-USA Tournament matches will be held in Huntington, W.V.

The seventh-seeded Owls had had their way with the 10th-seeded Miners (9-19, 3-14 C-USA), sweeping them in both of their matches this season. Their opening-round match was no different. Although UTEP put up a fight in the first game, staying with Rice throughout before eventually falling 30-27, they never challenged in the other two games. The Owls won the second game 30-17 on the strength of 14 kills and six aces and they won the third game by a comfortable 30-20 margin.

Freshman libero Tracey Lam led all Owls with 16 digs agaisnt UTEP, while sophomore middle blocker Natalie Bogan and junior outside hitter Jessica Holderness combined for more than half of Rice’s 43 kills. Holderness also contributed with 11 digs, one of four Owls to reach double-figures in that category.

Now Rice will face its toughest challenge of the season. The second-seeded Green Wave (26-5, 14-2 C-USA) has given the Owls fits all year. Rice played arguably its two best matches of the season against Tulane and came away with losses both times. Rice nearly pulled off an upset in its first matchup with the Green Wave Oct. 14, falling 3-1 but losing two games by a 30-28 margin. In the season rematch, Rice pushed the bout to five games but dropped the final frame 15-10.

Unsure of their seeding going into last weekend’s play, the Owls came out slugging at Fox Gym, starting last Friday against the University of Tulsa (24-8, 11-5 C-USA). In the opening game, neither team took control of the tempo as they both remained close through a 21-21 tie. A pair of three-point runs by Rice allowed the Owls to take the game.

However, the Golden Hurricane rebounded to win the second frame 30-23. The third game was the most hotly contested of the match, with neither team breaking away until the very end. The game went through nine ties before either team reached double-digits. Rice then maintained a lead until the Tulsa knotted it up again at 24. The Golden Hurricane then took the helm to sail to a 30-26 win.

Down two games to one, Rice was unwilling to go down in four games, posting point after point to take a 19-7 advantage. Tulsa cut the lead to six at 26-20, but Rice forged ahead to force a decisive fifth game.

Once again, neither team built a lead early on, with each team trading points to a 10-10 deadlock. But thanks partly to three Rice errors, Tulsa notched five straight points to take the game and match.

The match was very defense-oriented, with the two squads combining for a collective 212 digs. Lam led Rice’s defense by posting 35 digs, only one shy of the Rice record. Offensively, junior outside hitter Karyn Morgan put up 18 kills, one of five Owls hitters to post double-digits in kills.

Despite these gaudy statistics, head coach Genny Volpe said it was tough to see her squad fall after such a well-played match.

“There were a lot of things we did really well, [but] I honestly would just like to see us finish a five-game match,” she said.

Rice was more successful against Southern Methodist University on Saturday. Although the Owls were unsteady at first, freshman setter Meredith Schamun posted a service ace to tie the first game up at five. Following another tie at 17, Rice took control and never trailed again, winning 30-23. After winning the second game handily, the Owls looked to clinch the sweep.

Game three was the closest of the match, with both teams playing well on each side of the ball. SMU got the upper hand early on, but Rice came back to tie it up at 11. The teams tied six more times in the game until the score was 26-26. The Mustangs then yielded ground to the Owls as Rice went ahead to take the game 30-28 for the sweep.

Sophomore outside hitter Jessie Boulavsky had a breakout match for the Owls, leading the team with a .476 hitting percentage. On the defensive end, Lam also posted 25 digs and averaged 7.50 digs per game in the match. Her combined weekend numbers were enough to earn Lam her second C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors this season.

Lam also earned a spot on the All-Conference freshman team last Wednesday, along with fellow freshman middle blocker Caroline Gill. Holderness and Bogan were also named to the All-Conference second team the same day.

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