Rice University
Tulane
Rice Season Ends at C-USA Championship
11/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 16, 2007
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- In a tightly contested three-game match that included 21 total ties, Rice saw it's season come to an end with a 30-26, 30-26, 30-28 loss to Tulane in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Conference USA Volleyball Championship on Thursday afternoon in Huntington, W.Va.
The seventh-seeded Owls opened strong in each game but couldn't sustain the momentum against the second-seeded Green Wave.
"We did some good things, and we probably could have beat some other teams today, but we weren't going to beat Tulane with our lack of execution on our first touch and blocking," observed head coach Genny Volpe. "Our offense wasn't what hurt us today, it was more about our defense. I thought Tulane did a great job of just attacking the ball. We knew Tulane was going to come out and do really good things. They are a great team."
Sophomore Natalie Bogan (Oakland, Calif.) and junior Jessica Holderness (Sycamore, Ill.) paced the Owls 10 kills each. Bogan also hit .346 for the match and added three blocks and a pair of aces.
"Natalie and Jess are going to be key for our future," said Volpe. "They did a great job all season. Jess is so competitive. She wanted that win (today) more than anything. She played with guts, determination and was a great leader today. Natalie worked hard all day and kept trying to be open."
Defensively, freshman Tracey Lam (San Francisco, Calif.) recorded 18 digs to anchor Rice's back court. Freshman Caroline Gill (Fairhope, Ala.) had a hand in five blocks as the Owls held the advantage at the net nine blocks to six.
The Owls opened game one with a 3-1 run before the Green Wave rallied to tie the score at 4-4 for the first of seven ties in the frame. After trading blows, Tulane scored three in a row to go up 13-11 then held off Rice to take the frame.
Bogan opened the second game scoring both of her aces in consecutive serves as the Owls jumped out 3-0. Once again the Wave fired back to knot the score at 4-4 and the race was on again. After five ties and the score knotted at 22 each, Tulane's Sara Radosevic connected on back-to-back kills to spark her team to the finish.
Despite being down 2-0, Rice came out solid again in the third, charging out to an 8-3 advantage. The action intensified as Tulane posted a 6-1 run to record the first of nine ties in the game at 9-9. The Wave slowly built a 25-22 lead, but the Owls scrapped back with a 4-0 run to briefly regain the lead at 26-25. After a Tulane time-out, Radosevic struck again for the ninth tie and the Wave fended off Rice for the win.
Radosevic led all hitters in the match with 22 kills while Ksenija Vlaskovic added 17.
With the loss, Rice finishes the year at 13-17 overall. The future looks bright, though, as six of the Owls regular starters will be returning in 2008. "The youth of this team and key players we have in spots that are young, (looking to next year) is exciting," said Volpe.
