Volleyball hosts three after first win

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by David Gordon

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The Owls opened their season last weekend at the Florida Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.

Senior Sammy Waldron, the team's offensive leader, sat out the matches with a sore shoulder.

The team got the season started with one of the top teams in the country, number-three ranked University of Florida.

Without Waldron's offensive punch, the team dropped the match 2-15, 10-15, 4-15. Sophomore Tiffany Carrethers provided the offensive power, claiming seven kills.

Next on the agenda was Purdue University. Led by Carrethers' 14 kills, the Owls put up stiff resistance to the Boilermakers.

The Owls jumped out quickly, taking the first game by a score of 12-15.

Purdue recovered, claiming the next three games 15-13, 15-2, 15-10 to win the match.

The third opponent was the University of Oklahoma. Again the Owls jumped to a quick lead, taking the first game 15-8.

The Owls faltered, however, losing the next three games 15-9, 15-11, 15-6 to lose the match and finish in fourth place in the tournament.

Freshman Lisa Sweeny led the Owls with 13 kills in the match, while junior quick hitter Jennifer Sloan had 14 digs.

For her play in the three games, Carrethers was named to the all-tournament team.

Outside hitter Waldron made her first appearance of the season against Lamar, and the Owl offense got into synch.

Waldron and Carrethers powered the team to a 12-6 lead in the first game.

However, several errors, including many on the serve, allowed Lamar to pull within three points.

A time-out by Head Coach Henry Chen calmed the team down, and the Owls put Lamar away 15-9 in game one.

Unlike their previous matches, the Owls didn't slump in the second game. The team bolted to a 8-0 lead and never looked back, easily winning the game 15-4.

In the third game, the Owls jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but several errors allowed Lamar to pull back into the match, 8-7.

Two kills by Sweeny and several digs by junior Rebecca Case kept the match close.

Waldron and Carrethers led the team with 16 and 13 kills repectively.

Waldron also had 15 digs, followed by Case's 14 to lead the defensive attack.

"It was a big win," said Chen. "We had to lick our wounds this weekend, but we played a well-executed match."

When asked about the service errors that allowed Lamar to get back in the match, Chen said, "We wanted to serve them hard, and that happens. This is a much better Lamar team than we faced last year."

Setter Carolyn Sarnecki said the team was glad to be back in Houston.

"We had the jitters," she said, "We weren't at 100 percent, but we had fun."

When asked about Waldron's return, Sarnecki said, "It was very nice to have Sammy back. She's an integral part of our offense."

The Owls hope to carry their momentum into three home matches this week.

On Friday the Utah State University Aggies visit Autry Court. Last year, the Aggies finished a disappointing 2-28, finishing ninth in the Big West Conference.

On Saturday, the Southern University Jaguars will challenge Rice. Last year, Southern finished 15-18, finishing seventh in the Soutwestern Athletic Conference.

Then, on Wednesday, Texas Southern University heads cross-town to face the Owls. The Lady Tigers finished with an 18-12 record last year, but has yet to beat Rice in six previous meetings.

All matches start at 7:30 p.m. The Southwest Conference opener will be Sept. 27 on the road against Texas A&M University at College Station.

The home-opener is a match against the University of Texas on Sept. 30.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the September 8, 1995 issue.

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