Rice University
UCF
Rice Sweeps UCF
9/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2007
HOUSTON -- Rice took control of the match early and cruised to a 30-17, 30-27, 30-24 victory against UCF on Sunday afternoon at Fox Gym in Conference USA volleyball action.
Junior Jessica Holderness (Sycamore, Ill.) paced the Owls with 11 kills and 15 digs, while sophomore Natalie Bogan (Oakland, Calif.) added 10 kills and a career-best four aces. Sophomore Jennifer McClean (Cy Fair HS) and freshman Caroline Gill (Fairhope, Ala.) each added eight kills. Defensively, McClean chipped in 14 digs while Gill had a team best five blocks.
"The nicest thing is that stuff we have been working on in practice is really coming out in the match, like being aggressive on the serve," noted head coach Genny Volpe. "We took UCF out of their system, which was one of the things we focused on."
The middles were solid again offensively for Rice, with Gill hitting .389 and Bogan hitting .318 to lead the Owls.
"Caroline Gill did a nice job for us today," observed Volpe. "She's really improving and everyday she gets better."
The Owls went right to work in game one, scoring the first six points with Holderness blasting three kills. Rice pulled ahead 9-1 before UCF narrowed the gap to five points. After trading points, the Owls posted a 5-0 and the Golden Knights would not threaten again.
Holderness finished the frame with six kills and nine digs with McClean adding five kills.
Rice jumped out again in game two, building an early 9-4 lead, UCF wouldn't go down without a fight. The Golden Knights kept the Owls in check and slowly chipped away at the lead to finally knot the score at 22-22. After the teams traded blows to 27-27, the Owls regained the momentum after a UCF mis-serve. Bogan and Holderness then scored kills to secure the frame.
Bogan had six kills and all four of her service aces in the frame to lead the way.
With the momentum firmly in their grasp, the Owls scored the first four points of game three and never looked back.
"Now we have to get back in the gym and get ready for Houston on Thursday," said Volpe.
The Owls (7-8, 2-1) will look to avenge a 3-0 loss to the Cougars from Sept. 13 the two teams meet again on Thursday night at Fox Gym in a 7 pm battle.
