|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Rice Thresher
Phone:
|
by Chris Larson thresher editorial staff
Rice began its season by hosting the Crowne Plaza Rice Invitational, a five-team round-robin tournament headlined by No. 18 Texas A&M University. Rice appeared shaky in its opening match against Samford University last Friday, but the Owls managed to pull out a five-game win. Junior setter Mariel Davenport Pollock replaced sophomore setter Rebekah Neal in the second game and played setter for the majority of the weekend, while Neal saw significant time at the outside hitter spot. "The first game I think we got our jitters out," Davenport Pollock said. "We had some shifts in the lineup but we kind of got in our rhythm by the end." The Owls kept their rhythm during Friday night's game, when they swept a Stephen F. Austin State University team that had just defeated the University of Houston, a team that has advanced to the last 10 NCAA tournaments. Junior middle blocker Briana Cook led a dominating Rice middle attack with 13 kills, and senior outside hitter Leigh Leman and freshman outside hitter Rebeca Pazo added 15 and 12 kills, respectively. "The SFA game could not even have been written better," head coach Julio Morales said. "The hitting was the way it should be with everyone across the board. We had balanced hitting, and we shut the team down. That's the way you should play against teams that maybe are not as talented as you are." The Owls headed into Saturday's games 2-0, pumped up to knock off longtime nemesis UH, which has won 50 of 55 lifetime meetings against Rice. It looked as if the Owls had finally shaken the bug as they won the first game and then rallied to take the second. But Rice couldn't close the door, and UH swept the final three games to steal the win. "We always struggle against UH," Davenport Pollock said. "It's kind of a mental thing. We came out really strong the first two games, and after that we kind of let our guard down and thought that we could win without really working hard." In Saturday night's tournament finale, Rice faced an A&M team that had gone unchallenged all weekend, having swept all three opponents and winning seven of nine games by more than 10 points. At first, it appeared as if the Aggie domination would continue as A&M rolled to a 30-15 opening-game win. But the Owls came out strong in game two and hung tough, tying the game at 29 with a block by senior middle blocker Courtney Smith before falling 31-29. The majority of game three was neck-and-neck as well. A&M used a 13-3 mid-game run to open up a 26-19 lead, but the Owls clawed back to 26-24 before losing 30-26. Despite losing the match, the Owls feel proud that they were right in step with one of the nation's top teams. Leman and Pazo finished with 13 and 12 kills, respectively, and, as they had done all weekend, Rice dominated the blocking game, outblocking the Aggies 13-7. In each of Rice's four matches, the Owls outblocked their opponents and ended the tournament with a whopping 52-21 blocking advantage. Cook led the Owls with a total of 15.5 blocks for the tournament. "The way we played against A&M was a good showing of how we can play and how we should play for the rest of the season," Cook said. "Our blocking game is awesome. We've been working on it a lot. All we have to do is get our hands over the net and read the setter." Complementing Rice's blocking presence was a consistency in hitting that the Owls often lacked last season. Freshman Rebeca Pazo, who was named to the all-tournament team along with Leman, came up huge in her collegiate debut, registering double-digit kills in all four matches to establish herself as a second primary hitter. On several occasions, freshman Lindsay Carter came off the bench and sparked the Owls with kills and a big serve. Morales said the freshmen made a world of difference and will continue to do so. "When they went in they moved, and they positioned themselves," he said. "We almost call on them as if they were veteran players, so that was very reassuring." The Owls continued to show signs of growth Tuesday night as they overwhelmed Sam Houston State University in a 30-9, 28-30, 30-21, 30-19 victory. Again, the Owls' blocking was incredible - the final tally was 16.5-4 in favor of Rice - and again Pazo stole the show, knocking down a game-high 20 kills. Now, coming off two solid efforts, the Owls are ready to take their game on the road. They face Florida Atlantic University today before battling the University of California and the University of Tennessee tomorrow at the Golden Bear Classic in Berkeley, Calif. "As a group we have a better sense of where we are," Morales said. "Now it's a matter of doing it. There's no excuses now - we need to do it day in and day out."
- back - |
|||
|
Search the Thresher pages:
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 MS-524, PO Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251-1892, USA. The Thresher Online Project -- ethresh@listserv.rice.edu |
