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They started game one sluggishly, but the Owls quickly regained their spirit and won the game 15-12, holding the Rebels scoreless for 10 rotations at one point. With junior setter Soleil Thon hitting three aces in four rotations and the Owls hitting at .356 percent, game one seemed to be the beginning of a lopsided match.

Unfortunately, the Owls' lackluster play at the beginning of the first game was not a fluke, but the start of a trend. In the first 11 rotations of game two, they scored only one point, compared to 12 for the Rebels. "We usually start playing pretty late in the game. That's our problem," sophomore outside hitter Klara Zelinka said last Friday.

Behind the serving of sophomore setter Nil Kalagoglu, the Owls scored five points in the 12th rotation, but it was too little, too late. Two rotations later, the 6-15 blowout was over and Rice went into the locker room before game three with some serious problems to remedy.

The Owls used each of their senior players during game three, but to no avail. UNLV rushed out to a 10-4 lead, and though Rice scored four points in their final rotation to close the lead to 12-13, they lost 12-15.

The Owls started game four with Klara Zelinka in place of freshman outside hitter Leigh Leman as Head Coach Julio Morales continued to use more experienced players in the hopes of engineering a comeback. Nothing worked, though, as the Rebels pulled ahead 6-2 early in the game and never let Rice pull even. UNLV won the game 15-5, giving the Owls to 0-3 record in WAC play.

Saturday night, the Owls hosted Air Force Academy in Autry Court for their fourth WAC game. Junior outside hitter Karolina Zelinka verbalized the importance of the match Friday. "We want to win. We have to win," she said.

When asked about the team's plans for Saturday's match, senior middle blocker Tiffany Carrethers replied, "Just to kill `em."

There is nothing like an old-fashioned massacre to raise a team's confidence. Rice started game one against the Air Force Falcons sluggishly once again, still trying to recover after Thursday's disheartening loss. But behind the serving of Thon and three points from blocks, the Owls turned a 2-3 deficit into a 7-3 lead in the ninth rotation.

Two rotations later, Karolina Zelinka slammed two service aces and Carrethers added two more points, stretching the lead to 12-3. Rice won the game 15-7.

With Rice leading 9-1 early in game two, Head Coach Julio Morales allowed the starters to take a rest, giving the backups some valuable playing time. Karolina Zelinka led the Owls in the game with six points and three kills for sideouts, and Rice won 15-10.

"We were just ready to win again. Everyone came in ready to play," Zelinka said afterward. Karolina finished the match with a .444 hitting percentage on 18 kills and two errors in 36 attempts, and her sister Klara had four block assists and a .381 hitting percentage.

The Zelinka sisters and the rest of the Owls continued their domination in the final game as Klara and Karolina combined for seven points and four kills for sideouts in a 15-10 win. Carrethers, who had a great match with four block assists, nine digs and a .355 hitting percentage, was pleased with the team's rebound from Thursday. "We played well as a team [and] we ran our offense really well," she said after the match.

Thon finished the match with a career-high 19 digs, and senior middle blocker Libra Taylor had a team-high hitting percentage of .533 with eight kills in 15 attempts. Over the weekend, Carrethers moved into second place all-time in Rice history in career blocks with a total of 375.

Wednesday night, the Owls defeated Sam Houston State University in five games in Huntsville. The win boosts Rice's record to 13-6.

Tomorrow the Owls face the University of Tulsa in an away WAC-counter game. Rice hosts Southwest Texas State University in Autry Court Tuesday at 7 p.m.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the October 16, 1998 issue.