Rice University
Texas-San Antonio
Rice Overcomes Early Deficit, Beats UTSA 3-1
9/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2005
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SAN ANTONIO -- The Rice volleyball team rallied to hold off a determined Texas-San Antonio team for a 29-31, 30-25, 30-24, 30-28 victory on Saturday at the UTSA Dome Rally at the Alamodome.
The Owls (6-1) jumped out to a quick start to open play, taking a 6-1 lead in game one. The Roadrunners, though, regrouped and began chipping away at the scoring gap, finally tying the score at 12. It was the first of 10 ties in the frame. As the teams battled for momentum, Rice seemed to take the advantage with a 27-23 lead, but the feisty Roadrunners battled back with an 8-2 run to win the game. Senior Olaya Pazo led the Owls with six digs, while sophomore Yvette Kirk posted eight digs.
After six ties to open game two, UTSA looked to retake the momentum, pulling ahead for a 15-11 lead. Rice slowed the Roadrunners and began chipping away at the lead, starting with a kill from sophomore Kristina Dennemann. With the Owls trailing by one at 22-21, freshman Jessica Holderness sparked the offense with back-to-back kills and gave Rice the lead. Holderness went on to score three more kills, including the game-winner from the back row. She finished the game with seven of the Owls' 16 kills.
Rice stormed out of the gates in game three, jumping out to an 11-4 lead. The Roadrunners fought back to close to three (22-19), but the Owls held strong to take the frame and a 2-1 overall lead. Pazo again paced the offense with five kills and Kirk added another eight digs to her tally. The Owls also teamed to post six blocks, with Holderness getting in on four of them.
UTSA rebounded in game four to score the first two points and take the early advantage. A pair of kills from Holderness gave Rice its first lead of the game, but the Roadrunners responded with four-straight points to retake the lead. The Owls stayed close, and with a Dennemann ace and a block from freshman Karyn Morgan, Rice knotted the score again at 25. The Owls held off the final Roadrunner attack to secure the win.
Pazo and Holderness led the offense with 17 and 14 kills, respectively. Holderness also added seven blocks, just behind Morgan and junior Tessa Kuykendall, who had seven each. The Owls finished with 17 blocks on the night.
Kirk matched her career best with 26 digs, and Pazo added 18 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Morgan posted 13 digs, and Dennemann had 12.
The Dome Rally concludes for the Owls on Sunday against LSU at 3 pm.
