Volleyball earns weekend split with UTEP, Tulane

By Paul Fitzgerald     10/8/09 7:00pm

Since the opening round of the 2005 Conference USA tournament, the volleyball team has had a score to settle with Tulane University. In 2005, Rice swept Tulane 3-0 in both regular-season matches. However, come conference time, the Green Wave pulled out a five-set win over the Owls, knocking Rice out of its first C-USA tournament.

And in the three seasons since, the Green Wave has boasted a 6-0 record over the Owls. One sided, to say the least.

This season, Rice entered their match with an 11-3 record, 3-1 in C-USA, with a two-game advantage over Tulane (9-5, 4-1 C-USA). Last Sunday's matchup looked to be the Owls' best bet to down the Green Wave.

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History, unfortunately, doesn't like to change.

Yet again, the volleyball team failed to overcome Tulane, dropping their afternoon home match by a disheartening final score of 3-0. The Owls' Friday night home victory over the University of Texas- El Paso gave them a weekend split, leaving them in third place in the C-USA standings.

Against the Miners, the Owls took care of business in three sets (25-20, 25-19, 25-21). Neither Rice nor UTEP snagged a sizable lead early in the first set, but a late run gave the Owls the frame, led by junior setter Meredith Schamun's 13 assists.

In the second set, Rice opened up early and never looked back. Schamun once again had a productive set, recording 12 assists, while Bogan led the Owls' offense with four kills.

With the momentum obviously in their favor, Rice opened the third set with a quick 4-0 burst. The lead held, albeit tenuously, for the rest of the set, and UTEP, in an interesting turn of events, narrowed the score to 21-19. Rice closed out the set with a 4-2 run and the strength of two Bogan kills, her 10th and 11th of the match, gave Rice its fourth win in five matches.

While Rice may not have had many standout individual performances against the Miners, Head Coach Genny Volpe thought the Owls' service game was the key to their victory.

"I thought we did a good job serving, and they had a hard time getting their offense going," Volpe said. "UTEP seemed a bit off, and our serving seemed to take them out of their system."

The Miners may have been "a bit off," but the Owls did not have that advantage against the Green Wave. Tulane took care of Rice in three sets (26-24, 25-23, 29-27).

The Green Wave opened up an early advantage in the first set, but Rice rallied to tie the score at 23 and again at 24. However, Tulane's two late kills, just out of reach of the Owls, gave the Green Wave its first set. Tulane's flawless attack continued throughout the match, according to Volpe.

"Each game was a two-point difference, and the greatest difference was that Tulane made no mistakes," Volpe said. "They kept it in play and took care of the play better, and we made mistakes at the wrong time."

Tulane went on a 4-0 run midway through the second set, building up an insurmountable advantage over the Owls. Though the Owls eventually narrowed the Tulane lead to 24-23, a kill by Tulane's Visnja Djurdjevic gave the Green Wave the crucial second set. Djurdjevic went on to hit a match-high 18 kills, and her play garnered praise from Volpe.

"She played like a pro against us," Volpe said. "It's obvious that she played at a high level before she got to Tulane, and her experience was key for them."

The Green Wave started the third set by opening a small lead, but Rice rallied to stick a 23-20 lead. Tulane bounced back, however, and once again closed the set with back-to-back kills, securing a victory.

Rice outside hitters - seniors Natalie Bogan and Jenn McClean and sophomore Ashleigh McCord - all had double-digit kills, but their efforts failed to provide the Owls enough ammunition to overcome the Green Wave. While Bogan remains winless in her career against Tulane, she was not discouraged by the most recent defeat and does not expect her teammates to be, either.

"We're glad it happened, because now we know what to expect next time we play them," Bogan said. "That was the best they had, and they didn't see our best, so we're excited to play them next time."

Rice continued play on Wednesday afternoon against the University of Houston. The Cougars (6-4, 3-2 C-USA) sit in a tie for third place with the Owls after Houston defeated UTEP and Tulane this weekend. Rice returns home on Friday to take on the University of Tulsa at 7 p.m. before facing Southern Methodist University on Saturday evening also at 7 p.m., with both matches at Tudor Fieldhouse. Both Tulsa and SMU sit in the bottom half of the C-USA standings with identical 2-2 conference records, but Bogan knows the Owls will still be on their guard.

"Everyone in C-USA can play well depending on the day," Bogan said. "We'll just focus on playing our game and not getting too wrapped up in their offense and speed of play.

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