Rice University
TCU
TCU Beats Rice 3-0 in NCAA Volleyball First Round
12/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 3, 2009
Austin, Texas - Texas Christian University in its first-ever NCAA volleyball match defeated the Rice Owls 3-0 at host University of Texas' Gregory Gymnasium. Set scores were 26-24, 25-13, 27-25. Rice's season ends at 23-9, while TCU advances to play either No. 2 Texas on Friday with a 27-6 overall mark.
Senior Natalie Bogan led Rice with 12 kills and a .370 hitting percentage, while sophomore Ashleigh McCord collected 11 kills. Freshman Nancy Cole posted 7 kills in 20 attacks and Jessie Boulavsky had 6 kills. Owl setter Meredith Schamun dished out 33 assists and Tracey Lam had a match-high 24 digs. Jenn McClean had 11 digs and Megan White had 10 digs as well.
For Rice it marked the third time that the Owls have made the NCAA tournament, all in Austin and is still in search of its first NCAA win.
"This is the third time we've been here, and every team that I have coached that has been here has wanted it really badly," commented Rice head coach Genny Volpe. "It takes us a while to get into rhythm and by the time we do, it's too late. I think we've just got to learn to settle down and we're a great team that got here for a reason and we've just got to play the game a little more relaxed. I thought TCU played relaxed, they did a nice job of that. They played it point-for-point, and we played it in spots."
Rice is now 0-3 in NCAA matches, losing 3-1 to Michigan (2004), 3-1 to Wichita State in 2008, and 3-0 to TCU in 2009.
Kristen Hester pounded a match-high 15 kills for TCU, while Kourtney Edwards hit a match-high .571 with 12 kills in 21 attacks. Horned Frog setter Megan Munce had 34 assists.
After a 3-3 tie in set one, TCU took Bogan early lead at 6-3. Rice battled back to take a 16-15 edge on a service ace by Natalie Bogan, but TCU then went up 19-17, before the Owls rallied and tied it a 22-22 on a kill by Bogan. The Owls actually were able to serve for set point at 24-23, but the Horned Frogs secured the next three points to win 26-24.
Bogan led the Owls with 5 kills in set one and Ashleigh McCord added 4. Rice as a team hit .103 with 13 kills. Bogan also had two service aces.
TCU hit .195 with 14 kills and was led by Kristen Hester's 5 kills. Kourtney Edwards added 4 kills. TCU also had 3 blocks solos one each by Edwards, Kristen Hester, and Irene Hester.
The Horned Frogs jumped out to an 11-4 lead in set two and cruised to a 25-13 win. TCU posted 13 kills with 4 team blocks and a .520 hitting percentage (13-0-25). Kristen Hester led TCU with 5 kills and Edwards added 4 kills and 3 blocks.
Rice hit .073 (11-8-41) and was led by McCord's 4 kills.
Set three saw the Owls with an early 9-7 lead. TCU came back to tie it at 17 and then forged a 20-17 lead. The Owls staved off match-point on a kill by Bogan brought Rice to within one at 23-24. It was 25-25 when TCU procured match-point. The Owls' nine-match winning streak then came to a halt and when McCord's attack sailed beyond the baseline.
Rice posted 19 kills in the third set to TCU's 20 and hit .245, while the Horned Frogs hit .327. Bogan led Rice with 6 kills in the third set.
Kristen Hester and Irene Hester led TCU with 5 kills each in the deciding set.
The Owls accomplished a lot in 2009, including their first-ever conference title.
"I think the entire season was so successful," stated senior co-captain Natalie Bogan. "We've accomplished more this season than we have before. I'm just so proud of our team for getting this far and winning the conference tournament. It is disappointing losing, but I'm so proud of us for how far we've gotten."
Post-Match Notes
RICE
-Rice moved to 0-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament First Round play.
-Rice leads the all-time series against TCU, 8-5.
-Natalie Bogan climbed to seventh on Rice's all-time career kills list with 12, bringing her career total to 1,326.
-Tracey Lam improved her Rice career digs record to 1,701 with 24 digs.
-Lam also improved her Rice single-season career digs record to 634.
-Meredith Schaum remained at third on the Rice career assists record with 33 in the match, bringing her career total to 3,988.
-Natalie Bogan recorded double-digit kills for the 24th time this season and fourth-straight match with 12 kills.
-Ashleigh McCord recorded double-digit kills for the 25th time this season and eighth-straight match with 11 kills.
TCU
-TCU won its first-ever NCAA Tournament match in the school's first showing in the national tournament.
-TCU extended its winning streak to four matches, including a 13-1 record in its last 14 matches.
-The Horned Frogs held their opponent below .200 hitting percentage for the 11th time this season.
-Kristen Hester recorder a career-high 15 kills in the match. -TCU moved to 5-8 all-time against Rice, breaking a three-match win streak in the series by the Owls.
-Lauren Otto moved to sixth on the TCU career digs record with 14, bringing her career total to 1,108.
