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Rice University Athletics
Owls at Houston on Thursday - 7 p.m.
11/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2008
The Rice Owls volleyball team (21-5, 12-3) wraps up Conference USA action with a match at Houston (17-11, 9-6) on Thursday, November 13 at 7 p.m. in the Athletic Alumni Center. Rice previously defeated Houston 3-1 on Oct. 21.
VB RPI
The Rice Owls currently sport an NCAA RPI ranking of 25 out of 323 schools that sponsor NCAA Division I volleyball. Ahead of the Owls in C-USA is Tulane (12th), while UAB is 30th.
Recently
Rice defeated C-USA first-place UAB 3-2 on Friday as Karyn Morgan posted a match-high 26 kills and a .434 hitting percentage. The Owls then responded with a 3-0 win over Memphis on Sunday. Morgan led Rice with 11 kills.
Head Coach
Rice head coach Genny Volpe sports a school and overall coaching mark of 88-58 (5 years). She led the Owls to their first-ever NCAA appearance in 2004.
Currently
The Owls have won five matches in a row and 11 of their last 12.
C-USA Wins
Rice's 12 Conference USA wins are the most since joining the league in 2005. The Owls posted 8 wins in 2005, 5 in 2006, and 7 victories in 2007.
Players of the Week
Karyn Morgan, an outside hitter from Bellaire, Texas, wasn C-USA Offensive Player of the Week. She produced a C-USA weekly-best 37 kills and averaged a league-high 4.62 KPS. She also established a .397 (37K-6E-78TA) hitting efficiency over eight games.
Morgan tallied a match-high 26 kills, one shy of her career-high, and a .434 hitting percentage to lead the Owls to a 3-2 victory over then league-leader UAB Friday. She also recorded 11 digs for her 12th double-double on the year. Morgan followed that effort up with a team-high 11 kills and a .320 hitting percentage as Rice moved into second place tie with UAB by sweeping Memphis. On the week, she led the Owls with 41.5 points. This is Morgan's first Offensive Player of the Week honor.
From Murrieta, Calif., Meredith Schamun was selected as C-USA's Setter of the Week after leading the Owl offense with an 11.50 assists-per-set average, the second-best performance in the league for the week. She also ranked fifth-best for most service aces (0.38) and 12th for most digs (3.25) per set. She dished out 56 assists in Rice's 3-2 victory over then-league leader UAB to go along with 18 digs and two blocks. Schamun also tallied 36 assists and eight digs in the 3-0 sweep of Memphis. This is her second consecutive Setter of the Week honor and third of the season.
National Ranks
Rice setter Meredith Schamun ranks first in C-USA and 12th nationally in assists per set in this week's NCAA rankings. The sophomore from Murrieta, Calif., averages a C-USA-best 11.59 per set.
Sophomore libéro Tracey Lam ranks 24th in the nation in digs per set, accounting for a C-USA-best 5.02 per outing with 477 digs.
As a team, Rice ranks seventh in the NCAA in assists (13.56), eighth in kills (14.53), 17th in digs (17.09) and 28th in hitting efficiency (.258).
Balanced Attack
The Owls have four athletes that have accumulated over 200 kills this season. Rice is led by seniors Karyn Morgan with 309 (3.40) and Jessica Holderness with 277 (2.95). Junior Natalie Bogan has 258 kills (2.80) and freshman Ashleigh McCord has made her presence felt with 253 kills (2.75).
Attack Pct.
Natalie Bogan leads Rice with a .339 attack percentage and sophomore Caroline Gill is at .314 and Ashleigh McCord is hitting at .277.
Streakin'
Tracey Lam has now reached double-digit digs in each of her last 35 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), Karyn Morgan (2005-08, 1,300 kills, 1,180 digs), Leigh Leman (1998-02, 1,233 kills, 1,394 digs), Diane Kuhlman (1986-89, 1,086 kills, 1,130 digs).
Morgan's 1,300 kills ranks eighth all-time at Rice, while her 1,180 digs is sixth-best.
Other milestones on the horizon for Rice volleyball include senior Jessica Holderness with 930 career kills and 928 career digs and sophomore Tracey Lam with career 976 digs. Junior Natalie Bogan has 902 career kills. Lam's 477 digs ranks third-best in a season at Rice.
Sophomore setter Meredith Schamun has accumulated 2,407 assists in only two seasons to rank sixth in school history.
Looking Forward
The Owls have locked up a first-round bye in the Conference USA Championship held Nov. 20-23 in Memphis, Tenn.
