Volleyball falls to UH after five-game win over George Mason

---

by Jun Yang

---

Almost a month later, last season's conference champions avenged the loss with a straight set victory of their own. On Wednesday night Rice was outplayed by a young and ferocious Cougar team.

After blowing by Rice in the first two games 15-5, 15-10, Houston met some opposition during the third.

Rice, who led at one time 11-9, saw UH collect six unanswered points to claim the win.

Although injury and inexperience have plagued UH for much of this season, the Cougars managed to collect its third SWC win of the year.

Rice, drops to 19-8 for the season and 4-4 in the SWC after the loss.

Senior swing hitter Sammy Waldron smashed 15 kills on her way to a .297 hitting percent in the losing effort.

Had the team won both the UH game and next week's game versus Texas Tech University, they would have clinched a third-place conference finish.

Instead, the battle for playoff position will be more difficult.

The high point of the week came when Rice fought long and hard on Sunday to prevail over George Mason University in five games; 15-17, 17-15, 15-13, 15-17, 15-10.

Waldron led the Owls with another match of tallying over 30 kills.

Sophomore setter Carolyn Sarnecki set a new Rice record in assists in a match. Her 78 assists eclipsed Katie Meyer's mark of 75 set during the 1991 season.

Although the game was tight, Chen was generally pleased with the team's effort.

"We had a balanced attack. Three of our hitters hit over .300. I think another key to the game is that we served tough," he said.

"We had 14 aces, which was critical for us. We knew going in that the match would be a tough one.

"They [George Mason] are an experienced team and went into the playoffs last two years. They are seasoned team and came back a lot. We should have won in three but they are a tough team," he said.

After this match, Rice again received national attention in the form of national votes.

Waldron still leads the conference in kills per game with 5.23 after the win.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the November 3, 1995 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.