VB Owls on the Road
10/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 29, 2008
The Rice Owls volleyball team (17-5, 8-3) travels to Tulsa (20-6, 7-4) on Friday at 7 p.m. and at SMU (12-13, 4-7) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
VB RPI
The Rice Owls currently sport an NCAA RPI of 39 out of 323 schools that sponsor NCAA Division I volleyball. Ahead of the Owls in C-USA are Tulane (13th) and UAB (27th).
Recently
Rice lost a tight five-setter last Friday vs. Tulane, but rebounded nicely with a 3-0 sweep over UTEP to remain in third place in Conference USA.
Head Coach
Rice head coach Genny Volpe sports a school and overall coaching mark of 86-58 (5 years). She led the Owls to their first-ever NCAA appearance in 2004.
Currently
The Owls have won seven of their last eight matches and 23 of its last 27 sets.
National Ranks
Rice setter Meredith Schamun ranks first in C-USA and 11th nationally in assists per set in this week's NCAA rankings. The sophomore from Murrieta, Calif., averages a C-USA-best 11.51 per set.
Sophomore libéro Tracey Lam ranks 28th in the nation in digs per set, accounting for a C-USA-best 4.96 per outing with 387 digs.
As a team, Rice ranks sixth in the NCAA in assists (13.53), seventh in kills (14.49), 24th in digs (16.74) and 23rd in hitting efficiency (.261).
Kills
The Owls have four athletes that have accumulated over 200 kills this season. They are led by seniors Karyn Morgan with 241 (3.26) and Jessica Holderness with 219 (2.84). Junior Natalie Bogan has 213 kills (2.84) and freshman Ashleigh McCord has made her prescence felt with 208 kills (2.77).
Attack Pct.
Natalie Bogan leads Rice with a .370 attack percentage and sophomore Caroline Gill is at .325 and Ashleigh McCord is hitting at .300.
Streakin'
Tracey Lam has now reached double-digit digs in each of her last 31 matches.
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. Other Owls that have accomplished that feat as well are Rebeca Pazo (2001-04, 1,969 kills, 1,314 digs), Sammy Waldron (1992-95, 1,830 kills, 1,068 digs), Karolina Zelinka (1996-00, 1,508 kills, 1,217 digs), Leigh Leman (1998-02, 1,233 kills, 1394 digs), Karyn Morgan (2005-08, 1,232 kills, 1,136 digs), Diane Kuhlman (1986-89, 1,086 kills, 1,130 digs).
Morgan's 1,232 kills ranks ninth all-time at Rice, while her 1,136 digs is sixth-best as well.
Other milestones on the horizon for Rice volleyball include senior Jessica Holderness with 872 career kills and 868 career digs and sophomore Tracey Lam with career 886 digs. Junior Natalie Bogan has 857 career kills. Lam's 387 digs ranks eighth in a season at Rice.
Sophomore setter Meredith Schamun has already accumulated 2,204 assists thus far in her career to rank seventh in school history.
Opponents
Tulsa defeated Rice 3-2 earlier in the season and swept SMU 3-0. Rice leads the series vs. the Golden Hurricane 18-9 and is 17-8 vs. the Mustangs.
Looking Forward
The Owls host UAB on Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. and Memphis on Nov. 9 at 1 p.m.
