Rice University
San Francisco
Rice Beats San Francisco 3-1 in Volleyball
9/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 5, 2009
San Francisco - Rice defeated San Francisco 3-1 to win the USF/Asics Challenge held on the University of San Francisco campus. With the victory, the Owls improve to 7-1 on the season and have won six consecutive matches. Their longest winning streak a year ago was six as well. Rice went undefeated in the tournament in winning all three of its matches in providing a great homecoming for senior Natalie Bogan, from Oakland, Calif., and native San Franciscan, libéro Tracey Lam.
Game scores were 20-25, 25-14, 25-22, and 25-16. USF is now 2-4 on the year.
The Dons captured set one 25-20, with 16 kills and a .231 hitting percentage. Rice, posted a higher attack percentage at .258, but only had 12 kills. Three of those kills were by the middle blocker Natalie Bogan. Erin Bragg led USF with 4 kills.
Rice came back and overpowered USF in winning 25-14. Senior outside hitter led the Owls with 7 kills, while Bogan contributed 4. Setter Meredith Schamun had 15 assists in addition to two blocks to pace the Owl victory. Rice collected a whopping 18 kills and had a .474 attack percentage. USF managed 12 kills and a .195 hitting percentage heading into intermission.
Set three was tightly contest by both squads. A Bogan kills gave Rice a slim 22-20 lead. Three kills by McClean put the Owls up two sets to one with the 25-22 set three victory. McClean again led the Rice attack with 7 kills as Bogan added 3 kills and 3 blocks.
Rice hit .206 (13-6-34), while the Dons only mustered a .049 percentage (12-10-41).
In the match-clinching set, Rice pounded 15 kills in hitting .191, while the Dons had 9 kills and a .047 attack percentage. The set was tied at 5-5, when Rice went on 4-0 run and never looked back. The Owls received kills by Jessie Boulavsky and Ashleigh McCord, a tandem block by McCord and Caroline Gill, and a block solo by Boulavsky to thwart the Don offense.
Tournament MVP Jenn McClean spiked a season-high 21 kills with 12 digs for her third double-double of the season. For the match, the senior hit .362 (21-4-47). McCord had 12 kills, while Bogan smacked 10 and had a match-high 7 blocks. Schamun posted 51 assists for a 12.75 assist average and she provided 6 blocks as well. Lam dug up a match-high 25 balls. Lam now has double-digit digs in 48 consecutive matches.
Rice hit .280 with 58 kills with 11.5 blocks. USF had 49 kills and a .128 hitting percentage.
Erin Bragg led USF with 13 kills, while Sarah Mandala followed with 12.
The Owls now return to Tudor Fieldhouse for next weekend's Mizuno Invitational II (Sept. 11-12). South Carolina, Harvard, and Wichita State pay a visit to the beautiful Rice campus.
Asics Challenge All-Tournament Team
Jennifer McClean, Rice (MVP)
Natalie Bogan, Rice
Meredith Schamun, Rice
Lauren Salisbury, SDSU
Andrea Hannasch, SDSU
Erin Bragg, USF
Angela Hupp, CSUN
