Rice University
Mcneese State
Rice Sweeps McNeese State
9/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 6, 2006
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HOUSTON -- The Rice volleyball team had its best hitting night of the season, hitting .317 as a team to beat McNeese State 30-20, 30-22, 30-22 on Wednesday night at Autry Court.
Sophomore Karyn Morgan was the Owls' kill leader for the sixth-straight match, chalking up 19 kills along with a team best 19 digs. Middle blockers Natalie Bogan, a freshmen, and Tessa Kuykendall, a senior, also had hot hands for Rice during the match. Bogan posted 14 kills on 22 attacks with no errors for a scorching .636 hitting percentage, the best by an Owl this season. Kuykendall hit .579 with 13 kills on 19 swings with two errors.
"Hitting .317 is a big step up for our team today, especially out of the middles," said head coach Genny Volpe. "Natalie Bogan has been so steady and just fantastic over the last few matches with her hitting efficiency. With Tessa, numbers like this show what she can do. She has been working extremely hard on speeding up her game, and its really showing."
Junior setter Rachel Lopez got the match started for the Owls with a quick kill from Yvette Kirk, then followed with an assist to Bogan. McNeese State scored a pair to knot the score, but a Cowgirl mis-hit and another Bogan kill, put Rice up for good. After Rice led by as many as seven, McNeese State twice closed the gap to just three. The Owls then put up a 5-0 run to take a nine-point lead and cruised to the game one win.
Morgan had eight of her kills in the frame, while Bogan posted six on just eight swings for a stellar .750 hitting percentage. Lopez also established herself defensively on the front row, getting a hand on three of the Owls' four blocks.
The Owls jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in game two, but this time the Cowgirls answered back with a 9-2 run to take the lead. Rice responded with a 5-0 run to snare a two-point advantage. The teams then traded blows with the score knotting up four times. With the score locked at 18-18, Morgan recorded a kill and an ace to spark a big 12-4 run to put away game two.
Morgan added six kills to her total, while Bogan and Kuykendall combined to hit seven of 11 as the Owls hit .357 as a team in the frame. Kuykendall also blocked back three balls to lead the defense.
 Senior Tessa Kuykendall  | |
Game three opened with 3-0 runs from both teams, then Morgan broke a 5-5 tie with a kill to give Rice the lead for good as the Owls slowly pulled away. Kuykendall hit .714 in the frame with five kills on seven swings.
Defensively, the 5-9 Lopez led Rice at the net with a career-best five blocks. Kuykendall had a hand in four blocks, and Bogan chipped in on three.
"Rachel is a deceptively strong blocker," noted Volpe. "She's not real big, but she's very athletic and reads really well at the net. Rachel loves to block the ball."
Junior Yvette Kirk dug up 13 balls and freshman Jennifer McClean posted 12 digs. The Owls held the Cowgirls to just .071 hitting as a team, matching the 2006 season low for a Rice opponent.
The Owls play their next seven matches on the road, starting this weekend with a trip to Tucson, Ariz., for the Four Points Sheraton Wildcat Classic. Rice faces Montana State on Friday at 2:30 pm (CDT), then Bradley and No. 21 Arizona on Saturday at 12 pm and 9 pm (CDT), respectively.
"I think it could be a really great weekend for us confidence-wise, with the opportunity to get out there and play another ranked team," said Volpe. "It's really fun to get to see the team compete against programs that are getting national attention."
