Volleyball concludes season with postseason tournament

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by Jun Yang

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The Owls were selected to compete in the National Invitational Volleyball Championships. Also, the Owls earned their 20th win of the season during the Long Beach State Invitational Tournament.

This season's NIVC appearance marks the first Division I postseason appearance for the Owls.

The last time Owls claimed 20 victories in a season was 1989.

Individually, senior swing hitter Sammy Waldron was selected to the first-team all-conference.

Sophomore quick hitter Tiffany Carrethers was selected to the second-team all-conference.

Junior quick hitter Darcy Cruik-shank received the GTE Academic All-Conference Team honors.

During the season, Carrethers, Waldron and junior swing hitter Rebecca Case were named a Southwest Conference Players of the Week at least once.

This year, the final year of the SWC, is one of the best years in the conference's volleyball history.

Four out of six SWC teams made it to the NCAA playoffs, the highest percentage of teams from one conference in the country.

Head Coach Henry Chen was very pleased with the NIVC invitation and looked forward to the playoffs as a means for the team and the players to shine.

"I'm glad we have an opportunity to play again. Late in the season, a lot of our players are playing well. This tournament is essentially for the players," he said.

"I know they will play well. This tournament will be like a springboard for us to get national recognition."

The NIVA championships will be hosted in Kansas City, Mo., this weekend.

Today, in opening-round action, Rice will meet the University of Rhode Island and Pepperdine University.

On Saturday, the Owls have matches against Kansas State University and Drake University.

Twenty teams were selected for the championship, and the winners of each of the four sections will advance to the finals on Sunday.

Chen provided a brief preview on the four opponents Rice will definitely face.

"Rhode Island finished second in the Atlantic Ten Conference. Pep-perdine barely missed a NCAA berth and is second in its conference," he said.

"We lost to Kansas State earlier this season at their home court, but during the regular season, we won against Drake at Autry Court."

On their way toward the playoffs, the Owls faced a few tough opponents and the results were disappointing.

The first opponent over the weekend was Long Beach State University, which pounded Rice 15-9, 15-0 and 15-1.

No player hit for double digit kills, and the team hit -.048.

"The first game was very competitive. It was a sideout battle, but overall we didn't play well," he said.

"Games two and three were a learning experience for us. They showed why they were the national champions twice in the last four years."

Rice was not down for long as it came out with a vengeance against the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

Rice dominated every aspect of the game with a straight set victory, 15-0, 15-7, 15-4. The hitting percentage was a superb .416.

Case, Carrethers, Waldron and junior play set hitter Jennifer Sloan all hit over .400 and combined to outkill UAB 34 to 27.

Chen praised his team for the successful match.

"The girls showed their pride. We just annihilated them. They are a good team, but we just came out and hammered them," he said.

"We played well both offensively and defensively. Most of our starters hit above .400, so it was a great overall team execution. The domination, in my opinion, secured us the spot for the NIVC. This was the loss that eliminated UAB from the NIVC picture."

The University of Pittsburgh, another playoff-bound foe, proved more difficult to subdue as Rice faltered 15-17, 15-11, 9-15, 11-15.

Carrethers and Waldron smashed 16 and 14 kills, respectively, to lead the offense.

Defensively, Waldron dug 15 balls en route to the 64-32 digging advantage for the Owls.

However, Rice hurt itself when it committed 12 errors on kill attempts and 15 service errors.

Despite the loss, Chen found positive elements to be built upon.

"We played really hard," he said. "Despite the score, we transition well and out-dug a team known for their defense."

Berths for the NCAA post-season tournaments were up for grabs during the SWC Championship, but the Owls let the chance slip away as they exited after only one match.

They lost to NCAA playoff-bound University of Houston 15-17, 15-8, 15-10 and 15-11.

The match was very tight, and both teams showed remarkable resemblance on both sides of the net.

Houston posted wins in game three with a .000 hitting percentage and game four despite Rice's .353 effort.

"It was like a heavyweight fight. Game one alone was a 55-minute battle," Chen said. "Overall, it was a tremendous match. All the games were very close."

However, the regular season is out of the picture, and Rice will look forward to its NIVC opponents.

"We're prepared for the grueling tournament [ playing two matches a day], and we'll have fun there. Hopefully, we'll win all six matches," Chen said.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the December 1, 1995 issue.

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