Volleyball team struggles at home
Fresh off a second-place finish at a tournament at Northwestern University, the
Owls returned home to host the Harvey Suites/Rice Invitational last Friday and
Saturday.
The Owls proved to be gracious hosts, allowing opponents Kansas State University, Ohio State University and the University of Oregon to feel at home as the Owls lost all three of their matches.
Friday night, the Owls faced the Kansas State Wildcats, who won the first match between the two teams at the Northwestern tournament.
The Wildcats would dominate the match, defeating Rice in straight games, 15-7, 15-6, 15-13. Kansas State was simply too strong at the net, finishing the match with 20 blocks to Rice's two.
Middle blocker Jennifer Sloan had eight kills and 15 digs for Rice, and outside hitter Rebecca Case added six kills to complement her 15 digs.
However, Case's 10 errors left her with an anemic - .160 hitting percentage, one of several sub-zero hitting averages that left the Owls with a collective hitting percentage of .033.
Kansas State finished with a hitting percentage of .204. The Wildcats were led by outside hitter Toie Young, who had 10 kills in 20 attempts.
Saturday afternoon, the Owls played their best match of the tournament as they took Oregon down to a 15-15 tie in the fifth game, losing middle blocker Tiffany Carrethers to a sprained ankle at a critical point near the end of the fifth game.
The final score in the match would be in favor of the Pacific-10 Conference contender Ducks 10-15, 15-8, 9-15, 15-13, 17-15. In a defensive struggle, the two teams would combine for an impressive 198 digs.
Leading the way for the Owls was Case, with 16 kills and 27 digs. Setter Carolyn Sarnecki finished with 56 sets, 20 digs and four service aces.
The last match of the tournament pitted Rice against the nation's 12th-ranked team, the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Owls fell to 2-5 on the season as they lost in four games, 15-6, 13-15, 15-5, 15-7.
Despite losing Carrethers to the injury in the previous match, the Owls actually outblocked their opponent for the first time in the tournament, with 11 blocks to the Buckeyes' nine.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Vanessa Wouters recorded 19 kills and 16 digs in the match for Ohio State.
Top performances for the Owls in the match were turned in by impressive freshman Kelly Smith, who had 20 kills, and veteran leader Case, who had 13 kills and 22 digs.
Ohio State simply executed better than the Owls in all facets of the game, highlighted by 12 aces.
Ohio State was the tournament champion. Kansas State finished second, and Oregon placed third. Rice, of course, finished fourth.
Named to the All-Tournament Team were Amy Barnes of Oregon, Kate DeClerk and Kim Zschau of Kansas State, and Jen Boleyn, Jen Flynn, Sherri Helman and Wauters of Ohio State. Rice will play in the Lady Aggie Invitational this weekend, followed by a match on Sept. 18 at the University of Houston.
The road ahead promises to be long for the Owls, with a number of difficult teams on the schedule and a conference that includes the nation's top team, the University of Hawaii.
This item appeared in the Sports section of the September 13, 1996 issue.
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