The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 5, 2001 Page: 21 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER SPORTS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5,2001
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Schedule allows Owls
to host the WAC's best
VOLLEYBALL, from Page 16
final three. This year, the Owls
believe Hawaii will be sorely mis-
taken if it tries to write the game
off as an easy win facing what the
Owls consider one of their best
teams ever.
"We're really psyched to play
Hawaii," junior setter Mariel Dav-
enport Pollock said. "I know that
the past couple of years when
they came here and we didn't
have our best teams we still
played them well. This is one of
the only years ever that we actu-
ally believe we can beat Hawaii.
We know Hawaii's not at their
best point — they're still No. 13
in the country, but it's so much
more realistic for us than when
they're No. 2. We know they're
probably not as comfortable with
their lineup as they could be, and
hopefully we can capitalize on
that."
San Jose State represents an-
other significant hurdle the Owls
must overcome in order to com-
pete for a WAC title, as Rice is 0-
6 against the Spartans. Rice won
the first two games against the
Spartans last year at Autry Court
but couldn't close out the win.
"We've struggled against San
Jose, but there's no reason why
we can't beat them," Smith said.
"We get them on our home
court, so that's a great advan-
tage."
San Jose State (11-2,3-0 WAC)
is riding an eight-game win streak
and owns a win over No. 17 Uni-
versity of Minnesota. The Spar-
tans showed vulnerability, how-
ever, when they were extended
to five games by the University of
Texas at El Paso last week.
Nevertheless, the Owls know
they must be at their best to be in
a position to score their first win
in history against either Hawaii
or San Jose State.
"It's the toughest teams in the
WAC," junior middle blocker
Briana Cook said. "We have to
get up for them. They play a fast
game, like Nevada did, so we have
to get up for that and be on top of
it."
The Owls look to close the
weekend with a win over Fresno
State (8-3, 3-0 WAC). The Bull-
dogs have also won eight straight,
but their wins have come at home
and all against relatively suspect
opposition; they were swept in a
season-opening tournament at
Pepperdine University.
Not only will the matches give
the Owls a valuable indicator of
where they stand relative to
other teams in the conference,
each match against a western
division opponent counts double
in seedings for the WAC tourna-
ment in San Jose Nov. 15-18.
"If you look at the schedule, it
looks like we're coasting after
this weekend because we play all
the hard teams," Davenport Pol-
lock said. "In a way it's bad be-
cause we're going to be better in
a couple weeks, but in a way it's
good because it prepares us for
the rest of the season and makes
us better faster."
Volleyball splits first WAC matches
Rice shuts out winless Boise State before coming apart at Nevada
by Chris Larson
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
You know a team has reached a
crucial juncture when its season high
and low points both come in its latest
match.
The volleyball team opened West-
ern Athletic Conference play on the
road last week, defeating Boise State
University 3-0 Sept. 27 before falling
3-1 at the University of Nevada, a match
that saw the Owls play perhaps their
most complete game of the year be-
fore becoming frustrated in lopsided
losses in the final two games.
Rice handed Boise State (0-12,0-4
WAC) its eighth shutout loss of the
season in a 30-24, 30-27, 30-23 win.
Senior outside hitter Leigh Leman
posted a match-high 12 kills and the
Owls maintained control throughout.
"At Boise we did really well," jun-
ior setter Mariel Davenport Pollock
said. "Even though the scores were
close, we still dominated the entire
match. We were always in control
and we really never wavered. Leigh
really stepped up and acted like the
senior captain she is."
The Owls headed into Reno full
of confidence riding a three-match
winning streak, but they encoun-
tered a Wolfpack team making
school history by jumping to one of
its best starts ever. Nevada came
into the match 8-1 and had received
38 points, its most ever, in the previ-
ous week's national poll, unofficially
ranking 28th.
While excellent in general, the
Wolfpack has been near-invincible at
home: Nevada came into the match a
perfect 7-0 at home, having swept six
of its visiting opponents, including
then-No. 7 University of the Pacific.
Skeen shakes bug with game-winner
FOOTBALL, from Page 17
yard drive, and the Owls headed to
the locker room trailing 21-7, having
surrendered over 250 yards in the
air to the Warriors.
The turning point in the game
occurred with seven minutes and
three seconds remaining in the third
quarter.
With the Warriors leading 24-14
and driving deep in Owl territory,
senior linebacker Dan Dawson in-
tercepted Chang's pass and returned
the ball 74 yards for a touchdown.
Dawson now has 11 interceptions in
his Rice career, four against Chang
alone. In last year's 38-13 Owl vic-
tory at Rice Stadium, Chang threw
five interceptions, including three
to Dawson.
"I thought that Dan Dawson's in-
terception and return for a touch-
down was actually the turning point
of the game itself," head coach Ken
Hatfield said. "Chang is leading the
nation in passing, yet Dan has found
a way to get four interceptions
against him the last two years. That's
big."
The Owls almost lost their mo-
mentum later in the quarter when
Henderson exited the game with
cramps in his legs. That left fresh-
man quarterback Joe Moore at the
head of the Owl attack.
While he was zero-for-four in the
air, Moore, the scout team quarter-
back who was the Owls' fourth-string
quarterback headed into fall drills,
did an admirable job keeping the
Owls in the game until Henderson
could return. Because Moore played,
however, he loses his ability to
redshirt this season.
"We had to use Joe Moore at that
time," Hatfield said. "It was the first
WAC game and anything we can do
to help our senior group have the
best year, we're going to do. Joe
knew we were trying to redshirt him.
but he also knew we were carrying
him on the plane as one of the 60
who could help us win that game. He
handled the ball well until Greg
could get back in."
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ANDREW SHIMAGUKU/KA LEO 0 HAWAI I
Freshman quarterback Greg Henderson scores Rice's first touchdown of the
game Saturday against the University of Hawaii on a 28-yard second-quarter run.
While Henderson was in the
locker room, Chang suffered a
sprained wrist with just over 10 min-
utes remaining in the game, and the
Hawaii offense sputtered in Chang's
absence. The ()wlsheld the Warriors
to just 11 total yards and zero points
on their final three possessions.
Henderson returned to the field
for the Owls' final drive, which was
capped by sophomore Brandon
Skeen's 26-yard field goal with 2:26
remaining to give Rice its first lead
at 27 24. While Skeen connected on
just two of five attempts for the game
and is just four of 12 for the season,
Hatfield believes this big field goal
will help Skeen in the future.
"You can practice all you want,
but nothing can simulate the condi-
tions for a kicker when the game's
on the line," Hatfield said. "For Bran-
The reasons for the homecourt
advantage quickly became apparent
to Rice, as a loud crowd and small
gym combined to form an atmo-
sphere like few other volleyball ven-
ues. The Owls appeared rattled at
the beginning of the first game and
quickly fell behind, allowing Nevada
to coast to a 30-14 win.
4They were coming at
us from every angle.
Their defense was
phenomenal
— Mariel Davenport Pollock
Junior setter
"We came into the Nevada game
really excited because we thought
we had a chance to do well against
them," Davenport Pollock said. "But
the gym was packed. It's like a third
of the size of Autry [Court] and it's
an intimidating place to play when
it's such a small gym and it's filled.
We got stunned by them the first
five or 10 points — after that, we
started picking things up, but by
then we had already dug ourselves a
big hole and couldn't get out of it."
The second game, however, was
a completely different story as Rice
gutted out a 34-32 win in one of the
high points of the Owls' season. Rice
put up seven blocks in the period
and Leman knocked down 10 kills in
the game.
"I'm really proud of us for not
dropping," senior middle blocker
Courtney Smith said. "We came back
and won the second game, which
was the most intense game we've
played here at Rice in a really long
time and it was really fun to play."
Following the break between the
second and third games, things un-
raveled for the Owls. An already-
tough Nevada defense stepped its
game up another notch, and the Owl s
began to make errors out of frustra-
tion. Nevada senior outside hitter
Suzanne Stonebarger, who tried out
for the U.S. national team as a defen-
sive specialist, helped the Wolfpack
outdig Rice by a 65-40 margin.
"They were coming at us from
every angle," Davenport Pollock said.
"Their defense was phenomenal —
their outside hitter was all over the
place. It just seemed like whatever
we did — we were mixing it up, hit-
ting it hard, rolling and tipping and
everything — but they always got it,
so it was kind of demoralizing."
The Owls made 12 errors and
posted just 16 kills in the final two
games, which Nevada won 30-18 and
30-13. Rice finished with a season-
low hitting percentage of .007. Ne-
vada improved to 9-1 and 3-0 in WAC
play with the win, while Rice fell to 6-
4 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
"We got frustrated," Davenport
Pollock said. 'We got frustrated with
each other and then we started play-
ing as six individuals instead of a team.
It's too bad we went out on such a low
note, but I think we learned a lot and I
hope we meet them again in the WAC
tournament."
Win brings confidence
GOLF, from Page 16
nal round, he did not know he was
the tournament winner yet.
"I had to wait in the clubhouse
because there were a couple of
players behind me that had a
chance to win too," he said. "It
was very nervewracking waiting
to see those scores coming in.
Morgan's victory is a big step
forward for both himself and for
the team. His great play, as well
as solid play from the other four
Owls, propelled the team to a
third-place team finish, and his
win has given himself and his
teammates newfound confi-
dence.
"Ryan winning gives me a lot
of confidence in what I can be-
come," Rowe said. "We play
against and with him every day
and we know what it takes to win.
We're all not that far off in being
in the winners circle."
While this early season suc-
cess is very promising, Morgan
says it will not affect how he or his
team approaches tournaments.
"I don't think this victory will
change the way I play." he said.
"We're going to have a you ng team
no matter what this year, so it's
important to go out and want to
win every time in addition to get-
ting all of our guys more experi-
ence."
Morgan will try to win his sec-
ond straight tournament when
the team competes in the Purina
Classic in St. Charles, Missouri
Oct. 8-9.
don Skeen to come in and hit the
tying field goal and then the winner
after he had missed some and had
some problems was big. It shows a
lot about his poise, his composure
and his competitiveness. I think
that's going to turn him around for
the whole season."
The win was emotional for all the
players, but perhaps most for the
seniors on the team. These seniors
have seen the Owls on the losing
end of come-from-behind victories
but have rarely been a part of the
winning side.
"It was the greatest feeling after a
football game I've ever had," Dawson
said. "We've been together so long,
thisgroupof seniors. Where in close
games last year we folded, this year
we're winning, and that could be the
key to a great senior season."
Get me the
$%#!&@
out of here!
(We understand
completely.)
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Liu, Leslie & Reichle, Robert. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 5, 2001, newspaper, October 5, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443147/m1/21/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.