Rice University Athletics
Rice University
Southern Mississippi (C-USA)
Rice Volleyball Team Thumps Southern Miss 3-1
10/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 16, 2005
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - For the fourth-straight match, senior Olaya Pazo posted more than 20 kills to lead the Rice volleyball team to victory as she recorded 24 in Sunday's 30-19, 27-30, 30-16, 30-24 Conference USA victory at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Miss.
The Owls posted a balanced attack in game one with all six starters posting at least one kill. Neither team could grab the momentum in the early going as the score was tied seven times. With the score knotted at seven, Rice took advantage of a pair of Golden Eagle miscues to launch a 7-0 run. Southern Miss fought back to close to within two points, before junior Tessa Kuykendall sparked another 7-0 Rice run to put the game out of reach. Freshman Karyn Morgan closed out the frame with a pair of aces.
In game two, the Eagles jumped out to a 5-1 lead. The Owls stayed close throughout the frame, but could never grab the upper hand despite seven kills from Pazo.
Southern Miss opened game three with another early run, building a 4-1 lead. This time, Pazo connected on a set from senior Kristina Hoban to ignite a 7-1 Rice run and the Owls never looked back.
Both teams stayed close in the first half of game four as the score was tied seven times. With the scoreboard showing 14-14, Hoban and Kuykendall teamed for a big block, then Hoban and Pazo added a kill each to give the Owls the lead for good. Pazo had nine kills in the frame, and Morgan connected on six of seven attempts to hit a stellar .857.
Pazo finished with match highs of 24 kills and 15 digs for her seventh-straight double-double performance. Morgan was next for Rice with 15 kills and 11 digs, her fourth-consecutive double-double. Kuykendall added 13 kills, and freshman Jessica Holderness posted 10 kills on 19 swings with just one error for an impressive .600 hitting percentage.
As a team, the Owls had their best hitting match of the season, finishing with a .387 (71-18-137) including a .526 (24-4-38) in game four.
With the win, Rice improves to 13-4 overall and 4-2 in C-USA. The Owls return home this week for a five-match stint at Autry Court starting with UAB on Thursday at 2 pm in a rescheduled meeting. Rice also hosts East Carolina on Friday at 7 pm and Marshall on Sunday at 1 pm.
