Rice University Athletics
Owls Host No. 17 LSU on Friday
11/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 26, 2009
Owls vs. LSU (24-5, 18-2 SEC)
Nov. 27, 2009 • Tudor Fieldhouse • Houston • 7 p.m.
Quick Look at Rice (22-8, 11-5)
The Owls are on an eight-match winning streak its longest in the last two season after capturing their first-ever conference championship title dispatching Marshall (3-0), top seed Southern Miss (3-1), and two seed Tulsa (3-1). The Owls have won 24 of 27 sets in that stretch. The Owls have a balanced offensive attack as evidenced by three players with over 300 kills. Ashleigh McCord leads the team with 384 kills, Natalie Bogan has 345 kills and Jenn McClean has 313 kills.
Directing the balanced attack is Confernce USA Setter of the Year Meredith Schamun. Schamun leads Conference USA with a 11.83 assist average (1,290 assists). C-USA Libéro of the Year Tracey Lam leads C-USA with a 5.39 digs per set average. Lam has 588 digs which is a new Rice single-season record. Lam owns three of Rice's top four single season dig marks.
Rice's 22 victories marks the first time that the Owls' volleyball team has posted back-to-back 20+ wins in a season since Debbie Sokol's teams did it in 1986 (21-14) and 1987 (20-11). Rice posted a 23-8 record a year ago.
Vs. LSU
The Owls are 2-16 vs. LSU after losing 3-1 in 2007. Rice was supposed to play the LSU Tiger Classic a year ago, but Hurricane Gustav forced the cancellation of the tournament. Instead, the Owls were able to compete in the Baylor Classic.
Head Coach Genny Volpe
Rice head volleyball coach Genny Volpe is in her sixth season in directing the Owls' volleyball program. Volpe has an overall school and career record of 112-69. She has led the Owls to two NCAA championship appearances in 2009, 2008, and their first-ever bid in 2004.
Volpe came to Rice University after spending three years as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Texas A&M. Prior to Texas A&M, Volpe was an assistant at SMU from 1996 to 2000. She spent the 1995 season as an assistant coach at Rice under Henry Chen.
Rice's NCAA Championship History
Rice lost 3-1 to Wichita State in 2008 in Austin,Texas. In 2004, Rice received an at-large bid and faced Michigan in the first round in Austin, where the Wolverines prevailed 3-1.
Team C-USA Stat Ranks
Rice ranks first in kills (14.80), first in assists (13.79), second in hitting percentage (.242), and first in digs (17.93). The Owls are also third in opponent hitting percentage (.163) and seventh in blocks (2.09).
Team National Stat Ranks in Top 10
Rice ranks sixth in the nation in assists per set with 13.79 and ninth in digs per set with 17.93. The Owls are also seventh in kills per set at 14.80 and 50th in hitting percentage (.242).
Schamun Sets It
2009 C-USA Setter of the Year Meredith Schamun is first in the league and 10th in the nation with 11.83 assists per set. Schamun was named as MVP of the C-USA Championship and consequently was chosen by CVU.com as its National Player of the Week (11.36 aps in four matches).
Schamun set a C-USA season-high with 50 assists for three-set match in the win at UCF. Schamun has been named C-USA Setter of the Week three times in 2009 (Sept. 28, Oct.12, and Nov. 16).
Bogan Leads Rice in Hitting Percentage
Two-time All-C-USA first team Natalie Bogan is having an excellent senior season. Bogan is fourth in C-USA in hitting percentage (.344), 10th in points (3.85), eighth in blocks (1.00), and 13th in kills per set (3.19). She leads Rice with 415 points. Bogan hit a season-high .609 vs. Cal State Northridge with 15 kills (1 error) in 23 attacks. She leads the Owls for kills in a three-set match with 15 vs. Cal State Northridge as well.She has been named to the all-tournament team for the Mizuno Invitational, USF/Asics Challenge, and for the Mizuno Invitational II.
Lam Diggin' It
Two-time (2009 and 2008) C-USA Libéro of the Year Tracey Lam owns the school record for digs in a season (588 in 2009) as well as career digs with 1,646. She had double-digit digs in 54 straight matches dating back to the last nine matches of her freshman season in 2007, all 31 matches in 2008, and the first 14 matches of 2009. Lam is averaging 5.39 digs per set which leads C-USA and is 13th in the nation. She was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week for Oct. 25, Nov. 2, and Nov. 16, for the seventh time in her career.
Power Hitter
Sophomore outside hitter Ashleigh McCord leads the Owls in kills with 384 which translates to 3.92 kills per (third in C-USA). McCord's 4.15 points per set is fifth in the league.
KPS
Two Owls are currently averaging 3.00+ kills per set. Ashleigh McCord ranks third in C-USA at 3.92 kps, while Natalie Bogan is 13th (3.19). Jenn McClean is close behind at 2.90 kps which is 18th-best in the league.
Two in Top in Hitting
Senior Natalie Bogan and freshman Jessie Boulavsky lead Rice in hitting percentage. Bogan is tops on the squad with a .344 hitting percentage and is ranked fourth in Conference USA. Senior Jessie Boulavsky is second on the team at .278, which is 14th-best in C-SUA. Boulavsky hit a C-USA season-high .786 (12-1-14) in the 3-0 win at UCF.
McClean MVP at USF
Senior Jenn McClean, MVP of the USF/Asics Challenge, was also selected to the C-USA All-Tournament Team, is third on the team at 2.90 kps and is second on the squad with 3.53 dps (11th-highest in C-USA. She was named MVP of the USF/Asics Challenge. For the year, she leads Rice in kills per set in a four-set match (21-4-47 at USF). McClean has 313 kills, 15 shy of her season-high of 328 in 2006.
Cole Starter
Freshman middle blocker Nancy Cole made her first career start in the match vs. SMU (10-10-09) and smacked 12 kills with 4 blocks. She is currently second on the team with a 0.96 block average. Cole hit a season-high 16 kills in the match at SMU. She has 116 kills to her credit and his hitting .258.
Milestones
Middle blocker Natalie Bogan now has 1,300 career kills to rank ninth at Rice.
Junior setter Meredith Schamun ranks third with 3,904 career assists.
Senior outside hitter Jenn McClean has 1,342 career digs, which is fourth-best at Rice.
Junior libéro Tracey Lam ranks first in school history with 1,646 career digs, which was accomplished in 287 sets (78 matches) for a 4.94 dig per set average. She has a 588 digs in 2009 which is a school record.
In-season Tournaments
Rice is 7-3 during in-season tournament action. Rice posted a 1-2 mark at the Mizuno Invitational II, the Owls were 3-0 at the USF/Asics Challenge in defeating San Diego State, Cal State Northridge, and USF. The Owls went 3-1 in the Mizuno Invitational with wins over Nicholls, Central Arkansas, and HBU. The lone loss was vs. Oklahoma.
All-Tournament Natalie Bogan has been named to all-tournament squads for the Mizuno Invitational, the USF/Asics Challenge, and the Mizuno Invitational II. Jessie Boulavsky was named to the all-tournament team for the Mizuno Invitational. Jenn McClean was named MVP at the USF/Asics Challenge.
Tudor Fieldhouse Grand Opening For the first time in two seasons, Rice played a volleyball match in its renovated home court, Tudor Fieldhouse, on Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. The Owls squished the TCU Horned Frogs 3-1 as Karyn Morgan smacked a match-high 20 kills with 19 digs. Rice 1-0 in Tudor and 10-3 in Fox Gymasium, Rice athletics' practice gym, this season. The 2009 campaign is the first full season for volleyball in Tudor.
