Rice University
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UTEP
Owls Sweep Miners
11/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 4, 2007
EL PASO, Texas -- With another balanced offensive attack, Rice swept UTEP 30-28, 30-25, 30-18 in Conference USA volleyball action on Sunday afternoon at El Paso.
"I'm proud of the team's focus today, because it was an emotional loss on Friday to Tulane," noted head coach Genny Volpe. "I was really proud of them to come out determined and focused on UTEP."
Sophomore Natalie Bogan (Oakland, Calif.) led the attack with 11 kills while junior Karyn Morgan (Episcopal HS) added 10. Freshman Caroline Gill (Fairhope, Ala.) had another solid match both offensively and defensively with nine kills and nine blocks. Bogan had seven blocks as the Owls dominated at the net with a season best 16 total blocks.
Freshman setter Meredith Schamun (Murrieta, Calif.) set up 36 assists and ran the balanced attack as Rice's five hitters finished the match within five kills of one another.
"We've been talking a lot about speeding up our offense and making sure that we are getting all of our hitters involved," said Volpe. "Meredith has been doing a great job of implementing that. She takes risks and it pays off."
Senior Yvette Kirk (Saratoga, Calif.) added an exclamation mark to her career as she brought her career digs total to 1,395 to become Rice's all-time dig leader. "I'm so proud of Yvette and all she's done for the program," Volpe said.
The Owls stormed out of the gates, taking a quick 5-1 lead in the opening frame. Rice led by as many as nine points, but the Miners, celebrating senior night, fought back to close the margin to a single point. The Owls stayed strong to end the rally. Despite UTEP fighting off a pair of game points, Rice prevailed to take the early lead.
The Miners came out quick in the second stanza with a 3-1 lead, but the Owls immediately responded with a 5-0 run to regain control. Rice would not trail again for the remainder of the match.
The Miners' Amy Sanders led all hitters with 12 kills, while Catherine Chavez added nine.
With the win, Rice improves to 11-15 overall and 6-8 in C-USA play. The Owls return home next weekend for their regular season finales. Rice hosts Tulsa on Friday and SMU on Saturday, with both matches slated for 7 pm starts. Saturday's match also marks the final home appearance of the Owls' four seniors: Kirk, Rachel Lopez, Kristina Dennemann and Mendi Hardy.
"We would love to see a great turnout from the Rice community next week for our last two home games, especially to come out and honor the four seniors who have contributed so much to the program on Saturday."
