Volleyball: Weekly Notes; Owls vs. San Jose State/Fresno State
11/10/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
On Thursday, Nov. 11, 1999, Rice will meet San Jose State at 7:40 pm at Autry Court (5,000).
vs. Fresno State
On Saturday, Nov. 13, 1999, Rice will face Fresno State at 5 pm at Autry Court (5,000). Two conference matches.
Series
Rice is down in the series with both San Jose State and Fresno State, 0-3.
Rice's Probable Starting Lineup (1999 per game averages)
RICE OWLS 1999 RECORD (11-18, 2-7)
S 2 Soleil Thon 5-6, Sr.-3L, Sugar Land 8.8a, 2.5d OH 3 Klara Zelinka 6-0, Jr.-2L, Houston 3.2k, 3.3d OH 11 Leigh Leman 5-9, So.-1L, Magnolia 2.0k, 3.3d MB 5 Michelle Craven 5-7, So.-1L, Fort Worth 1.2b, 1.6k MB 14 Courtney Smith 6-0, So.-1L, San Diego, Calif. 1.5d, 1.2k OH 15 Kelly Smith 5-11, Sr.-3L, Edmond, Okla. 4.5k, 3.1d
Rice Versus The Field
The Owls will play their last two home matches of the season this week. On Thursday, Rice will take on San Jose State. It will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams. At San Jose State on Oct. 16, the Spartans defeated the Owls 12-15, 12-15, 5-15, to improve their series lead to 3-0. Saturday, the Owls will have another stab at Fresno State, having also faced the Bulldogs previously this year. Fresno State captured the 4-15, 10-15, 15-4, 3-15 win in their Oct. 15 match to go ahead 3-0 in the series.
A Look Back
After falling to crosstown rival, Houston, 5-15, 12-15, 8-15, Rice rebounded to take its second WAC win of the season, defeating UTEP 15-8, 13-15, 15-13, 15-6. The Owls struggled against Houston, hitting .171 and committing 12 service errors. Kelly Smith led the offensive attack with 17 kills. Rice recovered in its weekend match, boosting its hitting percentage to .200 and holding UTEP to .086. Leading the defensive effort was Leigh Leman who posted a team high 19 digs, and Briana Cook who knocked down eight blocks. On the offensive end, Klara Zelinka hit .485 with 20 kills and just four errors, Smith was the kill leader with 22. Four Owls recorded double-digit digs, and setters Soleil Thon and Mariel Davenport Pollock added 27 and 19 assists, respectively. The Owls then hit the road, but without the services of Thon and Courtney Smith, who were both out with illnesses, and headed to Nacogdoches to take on Stephen F. Austin. The Ladyjacks took advantage of the depleted Rice squad, and collected the three-game, 4-15, 11-15, 12-15, victory in 55 minutes.
Making History
Kelly Smith has been leaving her mark on the Rice record book all season, recording single match and career top-10's. As 1999 winds down, Smith is starting to climb her way up the season top 10 list. Having collected 1,225 attacks this year, Smith entered the attempts list at eighth and has since moved up to third. Smith, who averages 43 attempts a match, needs 122 attacks to claim the title. Briana Cook entered the season top-10 at the bottom rung and has since climbed to ninth with 115 total blocks, and has moved to fifth on the block assists list with 100. Klara Zelinka has also leaped onto the charts with her team-high 320 digs, placing her eighth.
WAC Facts
Klara Zelinka is stationed at the top of the WAC dig list for the second week in a row, as is the team. Zelinka is averaging 3.41 a game and the team has 17.82 per game. Rice is second in blocks with 2.59 a game and Briana Cook is third individually with 1.24. Kelly Smith is the service leader in conference matches with .59 aces a game against WAC opponents.
Aces High
Briana Cook end the first game with UTEP by launching a serve over the net and coming up with an ace to give the Owls the 15-8 win. Cook, who doesn't normally play on the back row, was forced to serve because the Owls had used their allotted number of substitutes. Although the ace came as a surprise, Cook has actually fired off three additional aces in her limited serving attempts this season. As for the rest of the team, Rice has been inconsistent from behind the line, committing a season-high 12 serving errors against Houston. Kelly Smith and Klara Zelinka lead the team, each having notched five in a match.
