Volleyball reels off four straight wins at home

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by Jun Yang

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After three disappointing losses on the road during the Florida Invitational, Rice enjoyed some sweet home-cooking in winning four matches in the past week.

All four matches were won in three straight games.

The Owls dominated TSU in every aspect of the game as the match was never in doubt. The final score was 15-3, 15-4, 15-5.

Sophomore quick hitter Tiffany Carrethers led the ferocious attack. She had nine kills, seven service aces and a .353 hitting percentage.

Senior swing hitter Sammy Waldron tacked on six kills of her own in support.

Sophomore setter Carolyn Sarnecki quarterbacked the team with 22 assists and six digs.

The team as a whole hit .290 and limited TSU hitting percentage to 0. The Lady Tigers had very few kills as a team as they were outkilled by 13 and committed 20 errors, which equalled their entire kill total.

TSU's record dropped to 2-1 while Rice improved to 4-3.

The home stand began last Wednesday when the team snapped its losing streak with a 3-0 win over Lamar University.

They kept the momentum going with a blowout over Utah State University on Friday, 15-5, 15-6, 15-3.

Carrethers and Waldron both tallied 14 kills to lead the team's offensive attack. Sarnecki contributed her third consecutive 40+ assist match with 42 sets.

Junior swing hitter Rebecca Case anchored the Rice defense with 12 digs while Carrethers added strength up front with five blocks.

Overall, the Owls hit .290 while limiting the Aggies to a mere .016 on 124 total swings.

On Saturday junior quick hitter Darcy Cruikshank collected nine kills and hit .818 to lead the team over Southern University. The .818 was the best kill percentage ever by a Rice player.

The game scores were 15-1, 15-1, 15-3.

Head Coach Henry Chen credited team effort for the team's turnaround after the 0-3 start.

"We're a young team and we are just getting the chemistry going," he said.

"Since there is an abundance of youth, the future looks great, but the season is right now. We are working very hard, and that's why we won. The girls earned those four wins."

Carrethers echoed her coach's words by crediting her team for working hard and making progress.

"We're going out there, going out strong and just doing it," she said.

"After playing together for a year, we now know one another. We learned to work together and communicate well."

Carrethers also commented on the teamwork exhibited by the team.

She said, "We really pick each other up and I think we really have no weak links."

The Owls will face four teams during the weekend at the Bobcat Classic Tournament in San Marcos.

On Friday they will play the University of Mississippi and Louisiana Tech Univeristy.

On Saturday they square off against the University of Texas-Arlington and Southwest Texas State University.

"We face a tough weekend," Chen said. "Two of the teams are playoff-caliber teams, but we are the team to beat."

Their first Southwest Conference game will be against Texas A&M University on Sept. 27.

The team hosts its first SWC opponent on Sept. 30 when it tangles with the University of Texas.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the September 15, 1995 issue.

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