Volleyball: Carter Leads Late Rally As Owls Sweep Wolf Pack
9/25/2004 HOUSTON ? Lindsey Carter scored four of Rice's final five points to cap a late game-three rally as the Owls swept Nevada 30-23, 30-20, 32-30 in Western Athletic Conference action at Autry Court Saturday night.
In the opening set the Owls never trailed as they slowly pulled away from the Wolf Pack after four early ties. Tessa Kuykendall paced the Owls with five kills in first game on .571 hitting.
Rice was even more dominant in game two. The Owls got the ball after a Rebeca Pazo kill to open the set, then Kristina Hoban served six-straight points as Rice stormed out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back. Pazo had six kills in the game, while Kuykendall posted five blocks.
Everything changed in game three. After Rice took the early advantage, Nevada powered back to take a commanding 19-11 lead. The Owls fought back to trail 22-20 with Olaya Pazo scoring four kills in the comeback, but the Wolf Pack seemed to have the game in hand, taking a 29-23 lead and serving for the game. That's when Carter and reserve Catherine DuPont stepped up for Rice.
DuPont blasted a ball from Carter to stop the Nevada rally. With Rebeca Pazo serving, Kuykendall had a kill and teamed with DuPont on a block to close the score to 29-27. After a Nevada timeout, Carter took over the match. Having gone without a kill thus far in the game, Carter connected on a set from DuPont, then on a set from Hoban to knot the score at 29. The Wolf Pack's Christine Harms scored a kill to get the ball and the lead back, but Carter and the Owls would not be denied. Carter answered back with a kill of her own to tie the score again. After a Nevada error gave Rice the lead, Carter closed out the match on a set from Hoban.
The Pazo sisters paced the Rice attack as Olaya finished with 13 and Rebecca had 12. Carter ended with eight kills. Hoban had another solid night with a match-high 13 digs to go along with her 38 assists. The Owls dominated the net, recording 14 blocks on the night as Kuykendall led the way with nine, including a pair of solo blocks.
Nevada's Salaia Salave`a led all hitters with 14 kills while Harms finished with 11. After struggling offensively in the first two games, the Wolf Pack hit .214 in game three to finish the game with a .096 hitting percentage.
The win improves the Owls' record to 11-2 on the year and 2-0 in the WAC. It is the program's best start since Rice opened the 1989 campaign with a 14-2 mark. Nevada falls to 7-5 overall and 1-1 in league action.
Rice returns to action Tuesday night, hosting Louisiana State in a 7 pm non-conference match at Autry Court. |
