The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 4, 2005 Page: 10 of 16
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Page 10 THE RICE THRESHER Friday, November 4, 2005
Owls seek revenge on
final C-USA road trip
by Matt McCabe
THRESHER EDrTORlAL STAFF
The volleyball team returned to
its winning ways at home over the
weekend, taking down Conference-
USA opponents Texas-El Paso and
Tulane. However, Rice did not fare
as well against the University of
Houston Wednesday, falling 3-2 in a
dramatic five-game match at the UH
Alumni Center.
"The execution is not always
there, and that's the big thing," head
coach Genny Volpe said. "I felt one
of the biggest differences [in deter-
mining the match] were our missed
opportunities on the block."
But the Owls have still won two of
their last three C-USA road matches
and hope to continue that success this
weekend against Southern Methodist
University (11-12,7-4 C-USA) in Dal-
las tonight before attempting to exact
revenge against the University of
Tulsa (20-5,7-4) Sunday. The Golden
Hurricane swept the Owls at Autry
Court Oct 7.
"None of us enjoyed Tulsa com-
ing into our gym and just beating us
down," sophomore setter/outside
hitter Rachel Lopez said. "I think
we kind of overlooked them,... and
fnow] we're looking forward to going
to their gym and getting revenge."
Lopez, who was recruited as a
setter, has been forced into the role
of right-side hitter due to an injury
to sophomore outside hitter Kristina
Dennemann.
"I'm learning as I go — it's a work
in progress," Lopez said. "It's so great
to finally be on the floor. I feel like I
need to be more reliable. I need to
step up more in practice ... because
I'm on the court now."
Volpe said Lopez is just begin-
ning to realize her capabilities as a
hitter.
"She constantly yearns to take
the next step forward," Volpe said.
"She's really coming into her own,
and she's also providing a smile and
fun out there on the court."
Following the road trip to Dallas
see VOLLEYBALL, page 14
Men second at C-USA meet
by Katy Miller
THRESHER STAFF
In the heat of the postseason, the
men's cross country team placed
second in the Conference USA
Championships, held Saturday in
Or1' ndo, Fla. Rice hopes to build on
this strong showing at the NCAA
Regional Championships Nov. 12 in
Waco, Texas.
Senior Marcel Hewamudalige
took second place overall in the C-
USA meet with a time of 23:37 in the
eight kilometer race, just under a
minute ahead of sophomore Charles
Hampton, who finished seventh with
a time of 24:33. Senior David Axel
finished in 12th, sophomore Colby
Keithan was 15th and junior Pablo
Solares took 18th.
The University of Texas-El Paso,
which is ranked eighth nationally in
the MONDO Men's Cross Country
Poll, won the conference title with
23 total points, while the Owls' 54
points barely edged the University
of Tulsa's 5&point effort for second.
Head coach Jon Warren Oones '88)
said the score was closer than the
actual race.
"We had five really good perfor-
mances," Warren said. "Even though
it was only four points in the end, I
wasn't really that worried that Tulsa
was going to beat us that day."
Hampton said Rice's performance
at the C-USA title meet should help
the team prepare for the upcoming
NCAA regional meet, where it will
face top-10 teams such as the Univer-
sity of Arkansas and the University
of Texas.
"Conference was a good interme-
diate step," Hampton said. "UTEP is
one of the top teams in the country,
so in that [ respect 1 it helps us prepare
because Arkansas and Texas ... are
very good as well."
UT finished second in the Big 12
Conference meet and Arkansas won
the Southeastern Conference. Those
two teams are favored to take the
top two spots in the regionals and
advance to nationals, so the Owls'
NCAA Championship hopes depend
on displacing one of the two favorites
to thereby earn the opportunity to
compete in Terre Haute, Ind.
Axel said the Rice runners are
aware they will be seen as underdogs
next week.
"We've known for a few weeks
that UT is expected to get second in
the region.," Axel said. "We know it's
going to be tough. For us, it makes
it a little bit more exciting. No one's
expecting us to do very well, so
hopefully we can surprise a whole
lot of people."
Hampton, who transferred from
UT, said he is looking forward to
facing his former team.
"For me, it's going to be an inter-
esting race," Hampton said. "(It will]
be my first race against my old team-
mates. Last year, we were holding off
Rice from trying to catch us, so the
situation has kind of flipped."
Warren said the Owls' position
as a dark horse should have little
effect on their preparation for the
regional meet.
"[It would] be a long shot for us
to get a top-two [finish] and a ticket
to nationals, but it's not out of the
question," Warren said. "If we can
continue to improve, we should have
a strong showing. Our training will be
the same—we're going to train to be
in the best possible form [through]
sharpening and rest. We're going to
line up and give it a shot. It'll be a
lot of fun."
Zuztnu
s/imna
/Timna
TAYLOR JOHNSON/THRESHER
Sophomore setter Rachel Lopez and freshman middle blocker Jessica Holderness go up for a block in Rice's 3-2 win over
UTEP Friday at Autry Court. The Owls came back from a two-set deficit to win the match. Rice plays at SMU tonight and
at Tulsa Sunday before returning to Autry Court for its final Conference-USA match against UH Thursday.
Football scares UTEP with late drive
by Adam Tabakin
THRESHER STAFF
The football team played its
best game of the season Saturday,
but a gutsy comeback effort was
thwarted in the final minute.
The University of Texas-El Paso
defeated the Owls 38-31 at Rice
Stadium.
Rice (0-7,0-4 Conference USA)
remained winless for the season
but allowed its lowest point total of
the season, while UTEP (6-1, 4-1)
remained atop the C-USA standings
with the victory.
The Miners wasted no time in
taking a 7-0 lead, connecting on a
54-yard touchdown pass on their
first play from scrimmage. The
Owls fought back, answering UTEP
with a 10-play, 79-yard drive capped
by a 22-yard touchdown run from
junior running back Quinton Smith.
Smith ran for 82 of his season-high
154 yards in the first quarter.
After the Miners scored another
touchdown, the Owls played keep-
away, embarking on a 20-play,
61-yard drive that drained 9:21
off the clock but stalled out short
of the end zone. Senior Brennan
Landry ended the long possession
by kicking a 27-yard field goal with
8:12 left in the first half to bring the
score to 14-10. With the field goal,
I^andry moved ahead of Derek
Crabtree as the highest-ranking
kicker on Rice's all-time scoring
list, and he now ranks third among
all players.
The Owls employed the sieve
defense for the rest of the half, al-
lowing UTEP to score touchdowns
on consecutive 80-yard drives. The
latter came with 1:02 left in the
second quarter and left the Owls in
a 28-10 hole heading into halftime.
In each of its seven games this year,
Rice has allowed its opponent to
score in the final 71 seconds of the
first half, although Saturday was the
first time those points mattered in
the final outcome.
After Rice gave up 296 yards
of offense in the first half, junior
safety Andray Downs intercepted a
pass from UTEP's usually accurate
quarterback Jordan Palmer — the
brother of Cincinnati Bengals
quarterback Carson Palmer — on
the first drive after halftime, giv-
ing the Owls the ball on their own
47. Sophomore quarterback Joel
Armstrong eventually ran through
the Miner defense for a 13-yard
touchdown.
7 think ...we actually
played up to our
potential.'
— Andray Downs
Junior safety
Sophomore linebacker Buck
Casson intercepted Palmer again
53 seconds later, returning the ball
to the UTEP 15, and sophomore
fullback John Wall took over on
the ensuing possession, scoring
untouched from one yard out on
a dive play.
Instead of letting the Miners'
momentum carry over to the sec-
ond half — as has been the case
many times this season — the
Owls instead doubled their season
takeaway total and cut UTEP's
halftime lead to 28-24 in less than
10 minutes.
"I think today we actually played
up to our potential," Downs said.
"We've given up big plays before
and let our heads get down and
let that affect us the whole game.
Today, we fought."
The Miners were pinned back at
their own 8-yard line on the ensuing
kickoff, but the Rice defense could
not make a third consecutive stop,
and UTEP scored again to put the
Owls down 35-24. The Miners then
tacked on a field goal to make the
score 38-24.
On UTEP's next possession,
senior defensive end John Syptak
forced and recovered a fumble, and
with 7:30 remaining in the game,
Rice went to work on an impressive
comeback.
With the help of a UTEP pass-
interference penalty on a fourth
down play, the Owls moved the
ball to the Miner 31, where they
were faced with 4th-and-10. Fresh-
man quarterback Chase Clement
heaved up a desperation pass that
landed in the outstretched arms of
leaping freshman receiver Jarrett
Dillard. Dillard secured the ball in
the end zone, bringing Rice within
a touchdown once again.
With four minutes still remain-
ing in the fourth quarter, head
coach Ken Hatfield decided to
attempt an onside kick. I^andry
see FOOTBALL, page 13
0WL00K - THE WEEK IN SPORTS
Friday 11/04 5:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m
7:30 p.m.
Saturday 11/5 2:00 p.m
Sunday 11/6 1:00 p.m.
Thursday 11/10 7:00 p.m
Swimming at TYR Rice Invitational (Rice Pool)
Volleyball at SMU (Dallas)
Soccer vs. East Carolina (Rice Track/Soccer Stadium)
Football at SMU (Dallas)
Conference USA women's soccer championship
Rice/ECU vs. UCF/UTEP at Rice Track/Soccer Stadium
Volleyball vs. University of Houston (Autry Court)
BY THE NUMBERS
Junior running back Quinton Smith needs to average
100.75
yards over the Owls' next four games in order to run for 1,000 yards this season. He
will begin his quest for that mark tomorrow, when the football team takes on
Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
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Obermeyer, Amber. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 4, 2005, newspaper, November 4, 2005; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443204/m1/10/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.