Rice University
Houston
Owls' Season Ends With Loss at Houston
11/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 16, 2006
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HOUSTON -- The 2006 volleyball season came to a close on Thursday night as Rice lost to Houston 30-27, 30-28, 30-23 in the first round of the Conference USA Volleyball Championship at Hofheinz Pavilion.
Sophomore Karyn Morgan paced the Owls with 11 kills, while freshmen Natalie Bogan and Jennifer McClean added 10 each. Sophomore Jessica Holderness recorded 19 digs to lead the Rice passers. Making her first start at setter, freshman Channing Grigsby set up 43 assists.
Senior Tessa Kuykendall ended her career by adding five more blocks to her Rice record and bringing her total to 546. Junior Yvette Kirk had 16 digs on the night to bring her season record tally to 569.
After finding themselves in a 12-3 hole in game one, the Owls began to rally back, chipping away at the margin. Trailing 18-11, McClean sparked a 6-0 run with a kill to close to a single point. The run was highlighted by a pair of blocks from McClean and Kuykendall.
The teams then began trading points with Rice tying the score at both 19 and 20 before taking its first lead of the game at 21-20. The Owls built a 24-21, but the Cougars rebounded with a 7-0 run to take control of the frame.
Rice came out strong in game two, taking an early 7-3 lead, but the Cougars scratched back to tie the score at 12 then take a 15-12 lead. After four more ties, UH pulled ahead for good to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
The Cougars opened the third stanza with an 11-4 run. Rice kept battling and tied the score at 18, but UH wouldn't be deny at home and finished strong for the win.
