Rice University
Tulane
Rice Falls At Tulane 3-1
10/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 15, 2006
NEW ORLEANS -- Rice lost at Tulane 28-30, 30-24, 30-24, 32-30 on Saturday afternoon in Conference USA volleyball action in New Orleans, La.
Freshman Jennifer McClean had a career best 22 kills to lead the Owls' offense, hitting .455 in the match. Jessie Boulavsky, also a freshman, was solid for Rice as well, hitting .435 with 11 kills. Junior Yvette Kirk led the defense with 23 digs.
After five early ties to start game one, the Owls built a four-point lead. The Green Wave climbed back into the game to tie it again at both 11 and 12. But Rice responded with a 6-1 run to regain control and pulled away to lead 27-20. Once again Tulane responded with a furious rally to close to 27-26. The Green Wave fought off a pair of game points, before the Owls finally put the game away with a kill from McClean.
Rice looked to hold on to the momentum in game two, scoring the first three and taking a 7-3 lead. Tulane scratched back to tie the score at 8-8, and after three more ties took control with a 4-0 run. The Owls rallied to knot the score at 20-all, but the Green Wave answered with a 6-0 run and closed out the frame to tie the match.
The teams traded points to open game three before Tulane gained a slight edge. Rice stayed close, tying the score again at both 11 and 12, but the Green Wave regained the momentum and slowly pulled away to take the frame and a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Owls came out on fire in game four, storming out to a 6-0 lead to open the frame. Tulane began chipping away at the lead and closed to a single point at 15-14. Rice responded with another run, this time 5-0, to regain the advantage and build a 21-16 lead.
The Green Wave never surrendered and continued to fight back. Trailing 29-26, Tulane fought off three game points to knot the score at 29-29. After the teams traded the next two points, Sara Radosevic knocked down a pair of kills to secure the Green Wave rally and victory.
The Owls (11-12, 4-5 C-USA) complete their four-match road trip next weekend when they travel to East Carolina on Friday and Marshall on Sunday.
