Volleyball: Weekly Notes; Owls at Fresno State/San Jose State
10/13/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 15, 1999, at Fresno, Calif., at North Gym (1,551), 9 pm CDT (7 pm PDT). Oct. 16, 1999, at San Jose, Calif., at Event Center (5,00), 9:30 pm CDT (7:30 pm PDT). Two conference matches.
Series
Rice has faced Fresno State twice and lost both matches. The Owls are also down 0-2 to San Jose State.
Rice's Probable Starting Lineup (1999 per game averages)
RICE OWLS 1999 RECORD (8-10, 0-1)
S 2 Soleil Thon 5-6, Sr.-3L, Sugar Land 9.2a, 2.5d OH 3 Klara Zelinka 6-0, Jr.-2L, Houston 3.1k, 3.3d OH 7 Alison Broadfoot 6-0, So.-1L, Clear Lake 1.6k, 1.8d MB 9 Elizabeth Davenport Pollock 6-1, Fr.-HS, Bethesda, Md. 1.1b, 1.1k MB 14 Courtney Smith 6-0, So.-1L, San Diego, Calif. 1.6d, 1.1k OH 15 Kelly Smith 5-11, Sr.-3L, Edmond, Okla. 4.4k, 3.0d
Rice Versus The Field
The Owls will be on the road this weekend when they travel to take on Fresno State in Fresno, Calif., on Friday night, and then on to San Jose, Calif., to face San Jose State Saturday night. Rice has fallen to Fresno State in its two prior meetings. The two last met in 1997, where the Bulldogs dropped the Owls, 8-15, 9-15, 6-15. It was 1997 when the Owls last faced the Spartans as well. The Spartans lead the series with the Owls 2-0, and won the most recent bout, 15-10, 14-16, 15-13, 11-15, 7-15.
A Look Back
The Owls continued to struggle, dropping two conference matches. Rice took on Texas-El Paso Thursday where the Owls fell in the 13-15, 9-15, 14-16 decision. Kelly Smith led the Owls with 17 kills and 21 digs, accompanied by Soleil Thon's 43 assists. Elizabeth Davenport Pollock hit a career-high .583 and knocked down personal-bests of eight kills and seven blocks. Alison Broadfoot also topped personal-best marks with 15 kills and 40 attacks. The Owls then turned their attention to the second-ranked Hawaii. The Wahine stormed into town Saturday night to capture the 15-8, 15-1, 15-7 win over the Owls. Again, Smith anchored Rice with 12 kills and 11 digs, and Klara Zelinka added nine kills to the Owls' total.
Double Trouble
Kelly Smith posted her eighth double-double of the season against Hawaii by notching 12 kills and 11 digs. She is tied for the team lead with Soleil Thon who captured her eighth in a 43-assist, 11-dig performance over UTEP. Five Owls have put up double-doubles so far this season. Karolinia Zelinka had captured two, including a 29-kill, 26-dig showing against Southwest Texas, before being sidlined with an injury. Leigh Leman, who has also been stalled by the injury bug, had contributed four, with the most notable being a 17-kill, 22-dig outing at Central Florida. Klara Zelinka is climbing towards the top of the ladder with seven. She recorded 30 kills and 15 digs against Virginia, and she accumulated 14 kills and 19 digs over Central Florida.
Topping The Chart
Each member of the Rice volleyball team has out-done themselves this season, topping at least one career-high mark. Senior Karolina Zelinka opened the season by setting new personal best marks of 29 kills and 26 digs against Southwest Texas. Kelly Smith had a career defensive performance against Virginia, digging 24 attacks, and Soleil Thon stepped up with 61 assists vs. SWT and 22 digs over Virginia. For the junior class, Klara Zelinka also set a new career-high against the Cavaliers by notching 30 kills. Remi Aderohunmu achieved a new high in digs this season, posting 17 twice. The sophomores are topping former marks in almost all categories. Leigh Leman launched 17 kills over Central Florida, while Courtney Smith put up eight blocks against the Golden Knights. Smith also had career-bests of eight kills and 17 digs, and Michelle Craven added 21 digs when Rice faced Virginia. The sophomores claim the most recent chart-topper, Alison Broadfoot, who knocked down 15 kills against UTEP on Thursday to go along with the new high of 13 digs, which she set against Mississippi.
Owls On The Mend
Leigh Leman, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury, is doing rehabilitation exercies daily and should return to the court within two weeks. Michelle Craven is recovering from knee surgery and should be back in action in two weeks as well. Nil Kalagoglu, who underwent surgery to repair a dislocated ankle, had her cast removed Sunday. Kalagoglu will start rehabing this week, but will not play this season. Karolina Zelinka will be re-evaluated in three weeks, but remains on the bench at this time.
Rice And The WAC On The Web
Updates on Rice athletics can now be found on the world wide web. Information on all 16 of Rice's athletic teams can be found at:
http://www.RiceOwls.com
Updates on the Western Athletic Conference as a whole can be obtained on the WAC homepage at:
http://www.wac.org