Volleyball: Owls Travel To Face TCU And SMU
11/24/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
On Friday, Nov. 26, 1999, Rice will travel to Fort Worth to take on TCU at the Rickel Center (500) at 7 pm.
vs. SMU (18-13, 7-5)
On Saturday, Nov. 27, 1999, the Owls will be in Dallas where Rice will face SMU at the Moody Coliseum (8,998) at 5:30 pm.
Two conference matches
Series
Rice leads the series with TCU 5-2, and is on top of the series with SMU 4-3.
Rice's Probable Starting Lineup (1999 per game averages)
RICE OWLS 1999 RECORD (11-21, 2-10)
S 2 Soleil Thon (so-LAY)
5-6, Sr.-3L, Sugar Land 8.4a, 2.6d
OH 3 Klara Zelinka (zuh-LINK-uh)
6-0, Jr.-2L, Houston 3.3k, 3.4d
DS 5 Michelle Craven
5-7, So.-1L, Fort Worth 2.3d
OH 11 Leigh Leman (le-MAHN)
5-9, So.-1L, Magnolia 2.1k, 3.3d
MB 14 Courtney Smith
6-0, So.-1L, San Diego, Calif. 1.3d, 1.2k
OH 15 Kelly Smith
5-11, Sr.-3L, Edmond, Okla. 4.5k, 3.0d
Rice Versus The Field
Rice will wrap up the season this weekend with road matches against TCU and SMU. On Friday, the Owls will be in Fort Worth for their second match of the season with the Horned Frogs. Although Rice is ahead in the series 5-2, it was TCU that posted the 15-11, 15-10, 13-15, 15-10 win in Houston. The Owls are holding on to a 4-3 lead in the series with the Mustangs, but SMU will look to tie the record on Saturday in Dallas. The Mustangs captured the 11-15, 15-8, 15-8, 15-8 win over the Owls when the two squared off in Houston earlier this year.
A Look Back
Rice fell victim to perennial WAC powerhouse Hawaii on Thursday in Honolulu, Hawaii. The 1-15, 0-15, 8-15 loss marked the first time since 1996 that the Owls have been held scoreless in a game. The win clinched the second consecutive WAC title for Hawaii and boosted the Wahine record against the Owls to 6-0. Rice amassed just 14 kills in the entire match as Leigh Leman and Kelly Smith led the team with 4 each.
Leaving Her Mark
Kelly Smith has been leaving her mark on the Rice record books since she arrived in Houston as a freshman. Last season alone, she claimed eight different top-10 positions including the most attempts in a single match ever at Rice with 78 at Houston. This season, Smith ended her career by placing her name in even more slots in the school history book. First, she shattered her own attempt record by launching 98 against Virginia, and then proceeded to light in three more slots on the single match top-10 chart for attempts with performances of 68, 65 and 63. Smith then captured the eighth spot on the kills list for her 31-kill outing against Virginia. As the season came to a close, she locked down a number of season top-10's including the record for attempts which she landed in the match against Hawaii, leaving her current total at 1,362. She is tied for third and looking to advance in the final two matches of the year with 365 kills this season, and she has claimed the second notch on the ladder for posting 1,488 kills in her career.
Making History
Briana Cook entered the season top-10 at the bottom rung and has since climbed to seventh with 127 total blocks, and has moved to fourth on the block assists list with 111. Klara Zelinka, who tallied 344 digs in her first two seasons, has recorded a team-high 351 digs in this season alone, placing her fourth on the season top-10 chart. Zelinka, who is only a junior, is also among the career leaders in blocking, ranking ninth in both block assists with 185 and total blocks with 199.
Double-Trouble
Outside hitters Kelly Smith and Klara Zelinka have been offensive bookends for the Owls for much of the season. Smith, who is the team kill-leader averaging 4.47 a game, has landed double-digit kills in 26 of the Owls's 32 matches. Smith has posted better than 20 kills in four matches and holds a season-best 31 kills against Virginia. Zelinka leads the team in digs with 3.38 a game as she pulls double-duty on the offensive front along with Smith. She is second to Smith in kills per game, averaging 3.30, and has notched 10 or more kills in 19 matches this season. Zelinka has two 20-kill performances, including her career-high 30 kill outing against Virginia.
Fabulous Freshmen
All three of Rice's freshman have been called on to perform like upperclassmen this season as the injury-ridden Owls were forced to practice with as few as seven healthy players at times throughout the year. Stepping up in a big way, middle blocker Briana Cook has started 13 matches in her first season of collegiate play. Cook leads the team with 1.26 blocks an outing and has collected 127 total blocks this year. Setter Mariel Davenport Pollock has split quarterback time with senior Soleil Thon, and is averaging 4.27 assists per game. Her sister Elizabeth Davenport Pollock is maintaining a .202 hitting percentage to go along with 59 total kills and 37 total blocks in 48 games.