Volleyball: Owls Eliminated By Michigan In NCAA First Round
12/3/2004 AUSTIN ? In its first-ever NCAA championship appearance, the Rice volleyball team fell to Michigan 31-29, 24-30, 30-23, 30-20 on Friday in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Volleyball Championships in Austin despite six players hitting double-figure kills.
The loss ends the Owls phenomenal season at 25-5 for a school record .833 winning percentage.
Senior Rebeca Pazo led the balanced Rice attack with 14 kills to go along with a team-high 15 digs. Senior Lindsey Carter and sophomore Tessa Kuykendall each posted 12 kills, and senior Rebecca Kainz added 11. Juniors Kristina Hoban and Olaya Pazo finished out the scoring with 10 each.
The action was tight in game one. After the Owls jumped to a 4-1 lead, the Wolverines rallied to knot the score at five. Neither team could gain the upper hand as the score was knotted at every point until at 16-16, Michigan scored two straight to get some momentum. After trailing by as many as four, Rice rallied back to take a 27-26 lead. The score would be tied again at 27 and 29 before the Wolverines connected on consecutive kills to take the first frame.
Michigan carried its momentum in to game two, scoring the first three points, but Rice didn't lose its focus and stayed close. With the score knotted at 13, the Owls mounted a 6-1 run and never looked back. Rice built its lead to as many as nine (28-19) before closing out the game. The Owls held the Wolverines to just .130 hitting in the frame.
The battle continued into game three with Rice holding the early edge. After eight ties, the last at 15-15, the Wolverines posted a 5-1 run to take control of the game. Michigan to hold the edge in game four, pushing ahead 11-5 . The Owls, though, would not surrender, rallying for a 6-1 run to tie the score at 12. The teams continued to trade blows and with Rice trailing by just two, Michigan posted a 6-0 run to put away the match.
Olaya Pazo also had 14 digs and Carter posted 11 as the pair notched double doubles. Freshman libero Yvette Kirk had 12 digs on the night. Kuykendall had a hand in seven of Rice's eight blocks on the night to lead her team at the net.
The Wolverines' Katie Bruzdzunski led all hitters with 24 kills on .548 hitting. Jennifer Gandolph added 17 kills while Stesha Selsky had a match-high 26 digs. |
