Owls Host UTEP, Tulane This Weekend
10/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 11, 2007
HOUSTON -- The Rice volleyball team returns to Fox Gym this weekend to host UTEP and Tulane in Conference USA action. The Owls (8-10, 3-3) face the Miners (6-12, 0-7) on Friday at 7 pm, then take on the Green Wave (17-4, 6-1) on Sunday at 1 pm.
Six matches into league play, the Owls have only played at home twice, sweeping UCF on Sept. 23, then defeating Houston 3-2 on Sept. 17. Rice is coming off a tough road trip in which the team lost a pair of five-game decisions at SMU and Tulsa. Against C-USA foes, Rice is averaging a league-best 20.48 digs per game. In overall matches, the Owls rank 11th nationally with 19.15 dpg.
Junior Jessica Holderness (Sycamore, Ill.) paces the Rice offense with 3.47 kills per game, while sophomore Jennifer McClean (Cy-Fair HS) is next with 3.07 kpg. A pair of freshmen lead the Owls' defensive efforts as Caroline Gill (Fairhope, Ala.) is averaging 1.11 blocks per game, 1.20 bpg in C-USA play, and Tracey Lam (San Francisco, Calif.) has 3.79 digs per game, 4.36 dpg against league foes.
UTEP's Amy Sanders leads her team with 4.08 kpg and 0.44 aces per game and ranks in the league top 10 in both categories. Tulane is led offensively by Sara Radosevic (4.96 kpg) and Ksenija Vlaskovic (4.75 kpg), ranking fourth and fifth, respectively in C-USA.
