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Rice University Athletics
Rice To Face UTEP in C-USA Championship Opener
11/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2007
| | C-USA Volleyball Championship Central
HOUSTON -- Rice finished the regular season in seventh place and will face UTEP in the opening round of the 2007 Conference USA Volleyball Championship on Thursday at 11 am (CST) at Huntington, W.Va., the league office announced Sunday.
The Owls (12-16, 7-9) swept the Miners (9-19, 3-13) in both regular season meetings including a 30-28, 30-25, 30-18 win at El Paso a week ago. The Rice middle blockers have been the stars of both matches. Sophomore Natalie Bogan (Oakland, Calif.) averaged 3.83 kills per game and posted a .465 hitting percentage, while putting up 1.50 blocks per game against UTEP. Freshman Caroline Gill (Fairhope, Ala.) had 3.33 kpg on .462 hitting while averaging an eye-popping 2.83 bpg.
A Rice victory on Thursday would set up a rematch for the Owls against Tulane (26-5, 14-2) on Friday at 11 am (CST). The second-seeded Green Wave won both meetings this season with a 3-1 decision in Houston and most recently, a nail-biting 24-30, 30-24, 26-30, 30-26, 15-12 win in New Orleans, La., on Nov. 2. In the match at Tulane, the Owls displayed the most balanced attack of the year as all five hitters reached double-figure kills ranging from 12 to 15.
Host Marshall (22-8, 15-1) earned the No. 1 seed for the tournament as the Thundering Herd claimed their second C-USA title in three years. In addition to Marshall and Tulane, No. 3 UAB (22-8, 12-4) and No. 4 Tulsa (24-8, 11-5) received first-round byes.
Saturday's semifinals are slated for 3 and 5 pm (CST) starts The championship bout is scheduled for 5 pm (CST) on Sunday and will be nationally televised live on CSTV. For the first time in league history, Huntington, W.Va., radio station WMUL 88.1 FM will be broadcasting all 11 matches of the tournament on-line here.
Conference USA and CSTV Networks, Inc. announced that 10 of the 11 C-USA Volleyball Championship matches will be available across the nation as part of a special on-line pay-per-view event. Thursday's four first round match-ups as well as Friday's four quarterfinals will be broadcast via live on-line video streaming starting at 11 am (CST) each day. In addition, volleyball fans can have access to the semifinals on Nov. 17. Per-Match: $6.95 ... Championship Match: $7.95.
