Rice University
Houston
Rice Falls at Houston, 3-1
11/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 2, 2006
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HOUSTON -- Houston avenged a loss earlier this season, defeating Rice 30-14, 27-30, 30-24, 30-25 on Thursday night at the UH Alumni Center in Conference USA volleyball action.
Earlier this season, the Owls beat the Cougars 3-2 on Oct. 4 at Autry Court.
Senior Tessa Kuykendall and sophomore Karyn Morgan led the Owls' offense with 14 kills each, while freshman Natalie Bogan added 12. Junior Yvette Kirk led the Rice passers with 21 digs.
After getting off to a rough start in game one, Rice picked up the pace in game two. Both teams traded blows throughout the frame, battling through 14 ties. Bogan gave the Owls the lead for good with a kill to snap a 21-21 tie. The Cougars continued to hang close and trailed the Owls by a single point at 26-25. That was when Kuykendall stepped up for a pair of kills and a block with freshman Jessie Boulavsky to put Rice at game point and give the Owls the momentum to take the frame.
The battled continued into the third stanza. The Owls and the Cougars had fought through 10 ties and eight lead changes before UH took the lead for good with a 3-0 run to go up 18-16. After trading points, the Cougars slowly pulled away to win the frame.
The fourth game saw eight ties and four lead changes in the early going before the Cougars took control with a pair of kills to break a 15-15 tie.
Rice (12-16, 5-9 C-USA) closes out the regular season next weekend on the road with trips to Tulsa (Nov. 10) and SMU (Nov. 12). The Owls return to Houston and the UH campus for the C-USA championship Nov. 16-19 at Hofheinz Pavilion.
