Rice University
Houston
Rice Beats Houston 3-2
10/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 4, 2006
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HOUSTON -- Freshman Natalie Bogan had a career best 19 kills to lead Rice to a 27-30, 30-26, 34-32, 23-30, 15-12 victory over crosstown rival Houston on Wednesday night in Conference USA volleyball action at Autry Court.
Junior libero Yvette Kirk, the C-USA defensive player of the week, also had a career night with 34 digs, just two off the Rice record set in 1989. The C-USA setter of the week, junior Rachel Lopez, recorded a career best with 69 assists. Overall offensively, four Owls recorded double-digit kills in the victory.
"I'm very proud of the team," said head coach Genny Volpe. "This was a great team effort. They really pulled together and did a great job. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into this weekend."
The Cougars jumped out early in game one with a 4-1 run, and although they led the whole frame, the Owls never gave up. After UH went up 29-23, Rice took advantage of a Cougar mis-hit to steal some momentum. Bogan and sophomore Jessica Holderness then teamed for back-to-back blocks and Bogan added a kill to close to 29-27 before Justine Farmer closed out the game with a kill for UH.
It was a similar start to game three with the Cougars once again taking the early advantage. The Owls stayed close and after five ties, the last at 17-17 off a Bogan kill, took the lead for good with a kill from sophomore Karyn Morgan. Rice surged ahead with a 5-0 run and took game point at 29-22. But just like the Owls in game one, the Cougars refused to surrender and fought off four game points before freshman Jennifer McClean blasted a kill to take the frame.
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With the match tied at 1-1, the intensity picked up in game three. After three early ties, UH looked to take over, building a six-point lead (16-10), but Rice continued to battle. Senior Tessa Kuykendall scored back-to-back kills to put the Owls up 21-20. The 20-20 tie was the first of 10 down the stretch as the teams began trading blows.
The Cougars reached game point first, taking a 29-26 lead, but the Owls fended off two game points and evened the score at 29-all. Rice then fought off three more game points, the last with a big block from Lopez and Kuykendall. Holderness posted a kill, then McClean secured the frame with an ace. After five ties and four lead changes early in game four, Houston had a 5-0 run to pull away and held on to take the frame, forcing game five.
The Owls scored the first two, but the Cougars came right back with a 6-2 run to snare the momentum. Rice stayed in it, though, and after seven ties and trailing 11-10, took advantage of a Houston miscue to take control. Holderness and freshman Jessie Boulavsky broke the final 11-11 tie with consecutive kills. Farmer had another kill to briefly keep the Cougars' hopes alive, but back-to-back kills from Boulavsky and Kuykendall iced the victory for the Owls.
After hitting .165 though the first four games, the Rice hitters stepped up to hit .385 (11-1-26) in game five.
In addition to her 19 kills, Bogan also led Rice with a .340 hitting percentage. Kuykendall was next for the Owls' offense with 17 kills. McClean recorded 16 and Boulavsky finished with 10. McClean also posted 10 digs for her third double-double in the last four matches.
The match marked the ninth time this season that Rice, now 9-10 overall and 2-3 in C-USA, has gone to five games. The Owls are 4-5 in those matches.
Rice hosts UCF on Friday at 7 pm then closes out the current home stand with Southern Miss on Sunday at 1 pm.
