Wear Pink at the Dig For The Cure Match
10/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 23, 2008
The Rice Owls volleyball team (16-4, 7-2) hosts Conference USA rivals Tulane (16-5, 7-1) on Friday at 7 p.m. and on Sunday hosts UTEP at 1 p.m. in Fox Gymnasium.
The UTEP match is designated as "Dig for the Cure," benefiting the Houston affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer awareness.
Individuals and businesses may pledge to donate a certain amount of money per dig made by the Rice Owls in the match, or they can give a flat donation. Donation cards will be available at the door of the match, as well as in locations throughout Rice Village. Also, pink Rice Volleyball t-shirts will be on sale at the match, with all proceeds benefiting Susan G. Komen.
For more information, contact Rice athletics marketing at 713-348-6923.
Recently
Rice defeated Houston 3-1 (25-16, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23) on Tuesday. There were four Owls that reached double-digit kills in Jessica Holderness (16), Karyn Morgan (15), Natalie Bogan (13), and Ashleigh McCord (11).
Head Coach
Rice head coach Genny Volpe sports a school and overall coaching mark of 85-57 (5 years). She led the Owls to their first-ever NCAA appearance in 2004.
Currently
Rice has won six-straight matches and 18 of 19 sets.
National Ranks
Rice setter Meredith Schamun ranks first in C-USA and 10th nationally in assists per set in this week's NCAA rankings. The sophomore from Murrieta, Calif., averages a C-USA-best 11.56 per set.
Sophomore libéro Tracey Lam ranks 21st in the nation in digs per set, accounting for a C-USA-best 5.0 per outing with 330 digs.
As a team, Rice ranks fifth in the NCAA in assists (13.52), seventh in kills (14.52), 17th in digs (16.82) and 24th in hitting efficiency (.263).
100 Owls
Four Rice Owls have accumulated 100 or more kills. Senior Karyn Morgan leads at 231, while Jessica Holderness follows at 194 and Natalie Bogan and Ashleigh McCord each have 186 kills.
Attack Pct.
Natalie Bogan leads Rice with a .363 attack percentage and sophomore Caroline Gill is at .339 (96-16-236).
Streakin'
Tracey Lam has now reached double-digit digs in each of her last 29 matches. That total ranks seventh in the nation among active players and is second-highest among sophomores in the country.
Milestones
Rice University volleyball player Karyn Mogan (Bellaire, Texas) has joined the school's exclusive 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs club. Morgan, a senior, becomes the sixth member of the group.
Rice 1000 kills - 1000 digs
Player Kills-Digs Rebeca Pazo (2001-04) 1969-1314
Sammy Waldron (1992-95) 1830-1068
Karolina Zelinka (1996-00) 1508-1217
Leigh Leman (1998-02) 1233-1394
Karyn Morgan (2005-08) 1222-1110
Diane Kuhlman (1986-89) 1086-1130
Morgan's 1,222 kills ranks seventh all-time at Rice, while her 1,110 digs is seventh-best as well.
Other milestones on the horizon for Rice volleyball include senior Jessica Holderness with 847 career kills and 848 career digs and sophomore Tracey Lam with 847 career digs. Junior Natalie Bogan has 830 career kills.
Sophomore setter Meredith Schamun has already accumulated 2,120 assists thus far in her career to rank seventh in school history.
Opponents
Tulane won the season's first contest (3-1) with Rice and now the two squads are now tied in the series 9-9. The Owls defeated UTEP 3-1 earlier in the season and now own a commanding 20-8 edge in the series.
Looking Forward
The Owls travel to Tulsa on Fri., Oct. 31 for a 7 p.m. tilt and on Sun., Nov. 2 at SMU (1 p.m.).
