The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 18, 1992 Page: 15 of 20
twenty pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
SPORTS
THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1992 15
mmmm
E
Tammy Trownsell and Michele Kaminsky go up for the block against Illinois-Chicago.
Rice wins tough Baden volleyball tournament
by Tony Tran
The Rice women's volleyball team
continued its early season roll by win-
ning the Rice-Baden Championship
tournament This grueling two-day
competition took place last weekend
at Autry Court as the Owls competed
against the University of Alabama,
Eastern Washington University, and
the University of Illinois at Chicago.
They lost some momentum
Wednesday night, however, losing in
three games to Sam Houston State
and dropping to 5-3.
Sam Houston was looking to pull
of an upset against the Owls, accord-"
ing to Assistant Coach Henry Chen.
They had very strong momentum
coming into the match," he said. "It
was a pretty disappointing match, but
a match like this will make us a better
team."
The Owls fell in three straight
games, 15-9, 1512, 155 "We didn't
executewell," Chen explained. "Itwas
a pretty ugly match."
The outcome was a lot better last
weekend. Competing in around-robin
format, the Owls compiled a 2-1 record
to take the trophy. Eastern Washing-
ton finished second at 2-1 while Ala-
bama and Illinois-Chicago ended up
1-2.
Freshman setter Casey Roon noted
the parity of teams in the tournament
She said, "I thought the tournament
went really welL The teams were a lot
tougher than we all thought they would
be."
The evenly-matched tournament
began for Rice as they faced the Crim-
son Tide from Alabama. In a tough
four game match, the Owls pulled out
the victory. After losing the first game
11-15, Rice stormed back to win three
consecutive 15-12 games to win their
first match.
Michele Kaminski paced the Owls
with 20 kills while freshman Sammy
Waldron, recently inserted into the
starting lineup, added 15 kills, and
tournament MVP Tammy Trownsell
contributed 14 kills and nine block
assists. This well-balanced attack
proved too much forthe CrimsonTide.
Rice continued play the next day
with an early match against Illinois-
Chicago. After playing adifficult match
the previous evening, the team fell
short 1512,12-15,10-15, and 10-15 to
drop them to 1-1 in the tournament
AsTrownsell put it, "We had played
a tough, emotional match the night
before, so we came out a little flat We
were physically and emotionally
drained a little from the night before."
Trownsell led the team in kills with
15 while committing a mere three
errors for a .400 hitting percentage,
while Kaminski chipped in with 13
kills of her own. The Owls had prob-
lems stopping Jennifer Wenzel, who
had 15 kills with only two errors (a
.481 hitting percentage), and Susan
Morris, who added 19 kills.
This defeat,jset up the would-be
championship match as Rice squared
off against Eastern Washington, which
was 2-0 at that point in the tourna-
ment The EWU team had been led by
Andrea Pochman, who had 54 kills in
her first two games, and Mande But-
ler, who had a .474 hitting percentage
in the last game.
With a supportive crowd of some
200 fans, the Owls defeated Eastern
Washington in four games in a long,
grueling match which lasted two hours
and 50 minutes.
Rice defeated EWU by the scores
of 15-12, 11-15, 15-9, and 15-10.
Trownsell showed why she won Tour-
nament MVP honors as she collected
20 kills for a.441 percentage. Kaminski
increased her kills total to 53 as she
chipped in with 20 kills. Freshmen
Lynda Yoon and Waldon made huge
contributions as they combined for 20
block-assists.
EWU's Pochman, who had been
dominant in her first two matches,
struggled as she finished with 17 kills
but 13 errors for an .095 percentage.
The win gave Rice the championship
and an overall 52 record.
Kaminski (53 kills) and Roon (12.5
assists per match) were named to the
All-Tournament team along with
Trownsell.
This weekend, the team heads to
Ohio to compete in the Ohio State
Buckeye Challenge. Rice will com-
pete there against nationally ranked
Ohio State, Tennessee, and Kansas
State. The team hopes to perform well
there but they are realistic.
"It will be good for our team to play
such good teams and a good opportu-
nity for our team to grow closer to-
gether. It's going to be a fight and
hopefully we'll be up to thechallenge,"
freshman Tobi Roquemore said.
Trownsell hopes that since the
team has only two matches, they can
get geared up and pull off an upset
Roon agreed, saying, "We have a
chance as I'm hoping we give them a
good fight and maybe even win."
As Trownsell said, "I think we'll
continue to improve and we should do
really well I'm really happy with the
contributions of our freshmen. They
haveagood winning attitude and they
are definite assets to the team. I'd like
to finish second in the conference this
year."
SPORTS
Owls seek first win of the
season against Blue Devils
Duke quarterback, defense question marks
by David Rhodes
The Duke Blue Devils will host the
Rice Owls at Wallace Wade Stadium
in Durham, N.C.,at5p.m. Saturday, in
a match-up between two schools which
are renowned less for football prow-
ess than for strong academic stan-
dards.
While Rice and Duke have not
played each other since 1965, the com-
petition between the two teams prom-
ises to be especially fierce, as Rice
recovers from its loss two weeks ago
to the Air Force Academy and Duke
attempts to end the downward slide
started by two straight losses.
Attempting to improve on last
year's 1-6 record in Atlantic Coast
Conference play, Duke had a difficult
opening match-up at Florida State
University in early September, losing
48-21 to a formidable opponent.
The following week against
Vanderbilt, the Blue Devils were
edged, 42-37, adding to the team's
frustration. Aehallenging ACC sched-
ule this year makes the home opener
against Rice critical to team morale.
Developing a starter at quarter-
back has been the first order of busi-
ness for the Blue Devils this year.
Senior Steve Prince will start at quar-
terback and try to fill the shoes of
Dave Brown, who left Duke to play
z professionally after last year,
o Duke has developed a passing
£ game which Rice Head Coach Fred
| Goldsmith called "top-notch." This
a was evident last week in the game
5 against Vanderbilt, as Prince com
pleted 21 of 37 passes for 241 yards.
Backup Spence Fisher, a sopho-
more, also played during the Florida
State game, completing 11 of 20 passes
for 179 yards.
"Duke is a pretty good football
team," said Goldsmith. "They threw
the ball for 350 yards against Florida
State, and Florida State is no slouch.
Our pass defense will be tested."
Duke's running game has been
inconsistent. Last week, senior
tailback Randy Cuthbert scored twice
and gained 110 yards on 19 carries,
but the week before, the team was
held to 16 yards on the ground.
On defense, the Blue Devils have
struggled, giving up 45 points and 472
yards a game thus far. The defensive
unit doesn't lack experience, with five
returning starters and 11 upperclass-
men starting, but it has proved to be a
weak link.
Meanwhile, the Owls come into
the game with confidence, despite
their disappointing loss to Air Force in
Colorado Springs two weeks ago. 'Hie
Owls fell behind early, 21-0, but came
within two yards of tying the game
before penalties and mistakes
thwarted their comeback.
In spite of the defeat, Goldsmith
said that his team has "bounced back."
He said, "This team is the most tal-
ented I've seen at Rice, and with the
best work ethic."
'Hie Owl offense is seeking bal-
ance this year. Their main threat, ail-
American tailback Trevor Cobb, has
been supplemented by a more potent
passi ng game, led by soph omore quar-
terbackjosh LaRocca.
LaRocca was 10 of 21 for 157 yards
and two touchdowns two weeks ago
against Air Force. His main receiving
target, Louis Balady, caught six passes
for 107 yards and two touchdowns in
that game.
Other impact players on offense
include receivers Jimmy Lee and
Emerson Allen, both of whom bring
great speed and versatility to the Rice
attack.
The Rice defense, a problem spot
last year, was inconsistent against Air
Force. Nose guard Matt Sign anchors
the undersized defensive line, which
is backed by a talented linebacking
corps.
The game will be broadcast on
KNUZ (1230 AM) in Houston, start-
ing at 5:30 p.m.
Younger runners step
forward at Houston Open
by Theo Mallinson
Tie Houston Open meet last week
held mixed results forthe Rice men's
and women's cross country teams.
The men's team started the season
slowly with two top runners sitting out
and one running under par due to
dental surgery. Head Coach Steve
Straub mentioned that while the older
members of the team did not perform
to competition level, there were some
standouts, especially among the
younger members and the redshirted
freshmen.
Jeff Lewis, running unattached as
a redshirt freshman, turned in a time
of 27:06.6 forthe five-mile course to
place fourth among Rice entrants and
18th overall in hisfirst collegiate meet
The winner, Charles Mullinger of
Blinn, finished in 25:28.1.
Jon Cooper, Bryce Cramer, and
Luis Armenterus turned in the three
fastest Rice times at 26:37.2, 26:42.8,
and 26:57.6.
The team had a varied perfor-
mance," said Cramer. "Some of the
younger guys, includ ing myself, had a
good race but others didn't turn in
great times," he added.
Three runners also sat out from
the women's team during their 3.1
mile race. Three other Rice women
ably filled the slots left by the loss of
Candace Lessmeister, Stacy Swank,
and NicoleAleskowitch. Erica Levine,
Riva Rahl, and Lynn Sherry turned in
times of 19:03.9, 19:11.6, and 19:17.6
to take third, fourth, and fifth places
respectively.
Women's Assistant Coach Jim
Bevan interpreted the results as in-
dicative of the season to come.
"It was very worthwhile to put
those girls in as they gained some
very valuable experience as front-run-
ners," Bevan said. The three girls
whosatoutprobably havegained more
by training this past week than they
would have if they had entered the
race."
Her finish made Rahl feel "as if my
hard work this summer will pay off
during the season."
"It was a good sign for us to place
towards the top early in the season,"
added Sherry.
The men's and women's teams get
together again forthe Rice Invitational
Sept 26 on the Buffalo Bayou at Shep-
herd and Memorial. Teams from
Texas A&M. Sam Houston State and
I Vairie View A«KtM will also attend the
meet Both Rice coaches expect to
havethcir teams closer to full strength
for the meet.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Kim, Leezie & Carson, Chad. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 18, 1992, newspaper, September 18, 1992; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245818/m1/15/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.