The Rice Thresher, Vol. 94, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, September 1, 2006 Page: 17 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER SPORTS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2006
17
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Layout by Dylan Farmer
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Volleyball aims for C-USA crown
by Dylan Farmer
THKKSHEK KMTORIAl. STMT
One year after finishing confer-
ence play with a disappointing live-
set loss to Tulane University in the
opening round of the Conference
USA tournament, the volleyball team
looks to rebound this season with
live returning starters and a talented
freshman class.
However, the Owls have to
compensate for the departure of
senior hitter Olaya Pazo and setter
Kristina Hoban, who exhausted her
volleyball eligibility last year but now
plays goalie for the soccer team.
The Owls opened their non-
conference schedule with matches
against No. 2 Penn State, Louisiana
State University and Nicholls State
at last week's Tiger Classic at
Baton Rouge, La., and they continue
this weekend with the Rice Invita-
tional at Autry Court. Similar to last
season. Rice faces a number of
notable Division 1 teams before
conference play begins, including
18th-ranked Arizona, the University
of Michigan — which defeated the
()wls two years ago in the first round
of the NCAA tournament — and
the University of Texas at San
Antonio, which lost in the title
match of last year's Southland
Conference Tournament.
"I think playing teams that aren't
very competitive won't help us at
all, so the idea is for us to see re-
ally strong competition early | in the
season]," head coach (jenny Volpe
said. "That way, we can gauge where
we need to make improvements and
see where we stack up against some
of the best teams around."
Even when the Owls begin
conference play, however — they
face University of Alabama-
Birmingham in Birmingham Sept.
22 — winning will be a daunting task.
In the C-USA coaches' poll, Rice
was fifth out of 12 teams, picked to
finish behind Southern Methodist,
Tulsa, the University of Houston
and C-USA defending champion
Marshall, which rode a 12-match
winning streak en route to a 15-1
conference record in 2005. The ()wls
finished 17-12 overall last year, and
8-7 in C-USA.
Despite the rankings, Volpe
said she expects Rice to be at the
top of the C-USA standings by the
season's end.
"There's no team out there that
can just dominate C-USA—any given
team can win on any night," she said.
"1 think right now that's probably a
true ranking, but to be honest I know
we're going to finish higher."
To do that, the team will look
to veteran leadership from its lone
senior, team captain and middle
blocker Tessa Kuykendall, along
with returning juniors Rachel Lopez
and Yvette Kirk, the libero. Kuyken-
dall, who finished the 2005 season
with 364 kills and 137 blocks, was
named to the 2005 C-USA Preseason
All-Conference team in early August.
She was a third-team all-conference
choice last season.
"She's great at the net and a big
part of the offense," Volpe said. "She
doubled her kills last year, and we're
looking to keep her very actively
involved this season."
Co-captain Lopez, who shared
time as a right-side hitter last
season, moves thisyear into the setter
position, where she had been a
backup to three-year starter Hoban.
Even though Hoban finished her
career ranked second on Rice's
all-time assists list, Volpe said Ixipez
should fill the void easily.
"I think Rachel is going to have
a great year," Volpe said. "She just
needs some really good matches to
get some experience. She's really
athletic, not afraid to run quick
sets, and I'm only looking for her
to improve."
Kirk, who has started every
game as the Owls' libero since she
arrived, has become critical to the
team's defense. She led the team
in digs in both her freshman and
sophomore seasons, finishing last
year with 371.
Sophomore Karyn Morgan, who
started every match last year at
outside hitter, will be a crucial part
of the offense in the wake of Pazo's
departure. She finished the season
THIS WEEKEND
Volleyball hosts Rice
Invitational
Where: Autry Court
When: Friday at 7 p.m..
Saturday at 12 p.m.. 6 p.m.
2006 VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE
The volleyball team's 16-match Conference USA schedule is evenly
divided, with 8 matches at home and 8 on the road. The Owls had an
8-7 C-USA schedule last season. Their regular-season schedule:
Date
Opponent
9/29
Tulane (C-USA)
9/1
DePaul
10/1
UTEP (C-USA)
9/2
UTSA
10/4
Houston (C-USA)
9/2
Illinois State
10/6
UCF (C-USA)
9/6
McNeese State
10/8
South Miss (C-USA)
9/8
Montana State
10/13
UTEP (C-USA)
9/9
Bradley
10/15
Tulane (C-USA)
9/9
Arizona
10/20
E. Carolina (C-USA)
9/15
New Hampshire
10/22
Marshall (C-USA)
9/16
IPFW
10/27
SMU (C-USA)
9/16
Michigan
10/28
Tulsa (C-USA)
9/22
UAB (C-USA)
11/2
Houston (C-USA)
9/24
Memphis (C-USA)
11/10
Tulsa (C-USA)
9/27
Lamar
11/12
SMU (C-USA)
Home games
denoted
in
bold
McClean and Jessie Boulavsky, and
middle blocker Natalie Bogan all
saw playing time during last week's
tournament, and middle blocker
Ix*ah Duncan and setter Channing
Grigsby round out the class.
Kuykendall said the freshmen
should have an immediate impact
on the team.
"It's exciting to have a new, fresh
team with a lot of strong freshmen
coming in," she said. 'They've got
a lot of talent and we've got a lot of
chemistry, so I think that after only the
first couple of preseason tournaments
we're really going to pull it together
and have a great season."
The team stayed sharp with pre-
season workouts starting in early
August, so all the new and returning
players have had time to develop
into a cohesive unit. Volpe said she
expects her players to show experi-
ence, despite the comparative youth
this team displays.
"It may take us a bit to execute the
game plan that we want to run, but it's
not a concern, just a growth process,"
she said. "We're going to have a lot
of depth, which is something that
we haven't had in the last few years.
We're hoping to take some strides
early on and come up with some good
wins, and I honestly think that we'll
finish higher than last year. We may
not have the experience that other
teams have, but young teams can still
be extremely successful."
Arm
/fitzurio
mxio
Sh
TAYLOR JOHNSON/THRESHER
Sophomore outside hitter Karyn Morgan goes for a kill shot in last year's
Oct. 28 win over UTEP. Morgan joins senior middle blocker Tessa Kuykendall '
and junior setter Rachel Lopez in the front row this season. The Owls host the
Rice Invitational this weekend, facing DePaul University tonight at 7 p.m.
third on the team with 348 kills.
She will be joined by fellow sopho-
more Jessica Holderness, who is
returning to her natural position after-
spending time at middle position last
season. She will be unavailable for
play for at least a few weeks because
of a quad injury. Junior Kristina
Denneman is still recovering from
last season's foot surgery, but she is
also expected to provide support at
the outside hitting position.
J oining the team this year are 1 ive
true freshman and redshirt fresh-
man middle blocker Ekaette Ibok,
who missed all of last season with a
torn ACL. Outside hitters Jennifer
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Brown, David. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 94, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, September 1, 2006, newspaper, September 1, 2006; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443027/m1/17/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.