Volleyball loses three in California

---

by Tony Tran

---

Tonight the team battles University of Texas-Pan American, and tomorrow it takes on Texas Southern University and host University of Texas at San Antonio.

Although he expects tough matches against all three teams, Rice Head Coach Henry Chen said he did not have any set strategy because he has not seen any scouting reports on them.

"They are all scrappy teams," he said. "They're going to be up to play us since they serve tough, play good defense and tip a lot."

The team is also uncertain of what to expect from these teams, but they approach the game with caution.

"We know that any team can beat anybody at any time," said setter Jessica Williams.

Rice is a combined 8-0 against these three teams and, one week after being the underdog in a tournament, they come in as the team to beat.

Chen feels that his team is ready to play as the top seed.

"We should be able to handle different situations like [going from] being the underdog to being the favorite," he said.

Last weekend, at the Long Beach State Invitational, Rice's season record fell to 1-3.

In the first match, the University of Oklahoma slid past Rice, 9-15, 15-12, 12-15, 13-15.

Freshman Darcy Cruikshank led the team with 13 kills, two aces, seven digs and four block-assists. Williams had a strong game at the setter spot with 43 assists, 12 digs and three block-assists.

Gloria Holcomb paced the Sooners with 25 kills, four aces, six digs, one solo block and four block-assists.

Rice lost to second-ranked Long Beach State in straight sets 11-15, 10-15, 12-15.

Sophomore Sammy Waldron led the Owls with nine kills and five digs while senior Michelle Bird added eight kills and six digs in support.

Danielle Scott paced Long Beach State with 18 kills and five block-assists.

The team, which came back from a 12-3 deficit in the third game to tie the match before finally falling, was enthusiastic about this game despite the loss.

"We weren't satisfied just coming back," Williams said. "We were definitely disappointed. We should have come back with some wins, but we learned a lot from the tournament."

In the final match of the tournament, San Diego State University beat the Owls 13-15, 9-15, 15-11, 8-15.

Waldron's 16 kills and seven digs were the team's best, while Yuan Yuan Zhang and Bird added 11 kills apiece.

Williams had a strong game at the setter spot with 46 assists.

San Diego State's balanced attack featured Kim Lester with 13 kills and nine digs.

"All the teams we played were ranked well," said Cruikshank. "We hung in there against all of them. In retrospect, it was a good tournament."

"[Playing in the tournament] gave us a big confidence boost," Williams said. "We know we can play with the big teams, and they had to fight to beat us."

Williams noted one particular area where the team needed improvement, though.

"Our ability to perform in crunch time needs to be better," she said. "We just lost our focus in those games."

Rice's 37 serving errors contributed to their losses. Chen was not concerned by this high number, however, considering the team's 32 aces.

"[The serving difficulty] concerns me, but our philosophy is to serve tough," he said.

"I'm not alarmed because those missed serves were aggressive ones," he added.

Cruikshank noticed the team's lack of consistency.

"We need improvement in consistency in all aspects of the game," she said. "We still know that we have a lot to work toward."

Last night the team played host to the University of North Texas.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the September 10, 1993 issue.

Copyright © 1996 The Rice Thresher. All Rights Reserved.
This document may be distributed electronically, provided that it is distributed in its entirety and includes this notice. However, it cannot be reprinted without the express written permission of:
The Rice Thresher, Rice University, 6100 Main, Houston, TX 77005-1892, USA.