Rice University
Memphis
Rice Rally Comes Up Short
9/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 24, 2006
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HOUSTON -- Down by two games, Rice battled back to force a game five but the rally came up short as Memphis won 30-25, 30-26, 24-30, 18-30, 15-10 in Conference USA volleyball action on Sunday afternoon at Autry Court.
Sophomore Karyn Morgan led the Owls with 20 kills, and senior Tessa Kuykendall added 16. Junior Rachel Lopez recorded her first career triple-double with 11 kills, 47 assists and 17 digs.
The match marked the eighth time in 11 outings that the Owls have gone to five games, and the third time for Rice to rally from two games down.
After battling through the first two games and falling behind, the Owls were on fire in games three and four. In the third frame, the teams traded early points before Rice took control with a 7-0 run powered by three kills from Morgan and a pair of kills from Kuykendall. The Tigers clawed their way back to a single point, but the Owls held off the threat to take the frame.
Kuykendall recorded six kills in the game, while Morgan and sophomore Jessica Holderness added five a piece.
Rice fell behind 4-1 to start game four, but took advantage of a Tiger serving error to launch a 5-0 run. Three of those points came service aces from Holderness. The Owls then pulled away for an eight-point lead. Memphis tried to fight back, but as 6-0 Owl rally slammed the door on the Tigers and sent the match a fifth game.
Morgan had the hot hand in the game, hitting a scorching .667 with six kills on nine swings with no errors. As a team, the Owls hit .414 in the frame.
The Rice comeback attempt ran out of steam in game five, though, as Memphis jumped out to a 4-1 lead and never looked back.
In addition to Morgan, Kuykendall and Lopez, Holderness and freshman Natalie Bogan both added 11 kills in the match. Bogan also hit .625 for the day, with her only error coming in the fifth frame. Junior libero Yvette Kirk continued to be solid for the Owls in the backcourt, posting 23 digs to match her season high. At the net, Kuykendall had a hand in eight of Rice's nine blocks, matching her season high.
The Tigers were paced by Ashley Liford's 22 kills and libero Christen Clayton's 32 digs.
Next up for the Owls is a quick trip to Beaumont on Wednesday to face Lamar at 7:30 pm. Rice returns to Autry Court next weekend to host Tulane on Friday at 7 pm and UTEP on Sunday at 1 pm.
