Nov. 9, 2008

Box Score

HOUSTON -

Rice 3, Memphis 0

Memphis (17-12; 8-7 C-USA)     28  15  22
Rice (21-5; 12-3 C-USA)        30  25  25

Libero Christine Bach made a match-high 14 digs, but Memphis was unable to come back from a tough game-one loss as it was swept by Rice in its final road match of the year. The Tigers fall to 17-12, 8-7 in C-USA play. Rice improves to 21-5 overall and 12-3 in conference action.

"Rice is a very solid team with a lot of weapons," said Memphis head coach April Jauregui. "We had a good game plan with our serving and blocking plan, but we struggled to put it together on the offensive side. I am eager to return home to the fieldhouse, get back in the gym and improve. It's not just about this year. We are building for the future and we need matches like this to challenge us to playat a higher level."

Game one proved to be the most important set of the day. In a thrilling battle it was Rice who emerged victorious. Memphis held the early lead, but a 3-1 push by the Owls gave them their first lead of the set at 7-6. A pair of Tiger hitting errors made it 10-8 in favor of Rice. The Tigers kept things close and a service ace by Lauren Trouy completed a 4-1 rally as Memphis reclaimed the lead. With the stanza tied at 15, the Tigers benefitted from three Rice attacking errors and Lauren Thompson connected for one of her five first period kills to make it a four-point U of M advantage. An ace by Christine Bach made it 22-18 and it looked as if Memphis would take the opener. However, Rice had other ideas. The Owls scored on five of the next six serves to tie the game at 23. From there both teams traded points until Rice wrapped up the 30-28 game one win by scoring on a Memphis blocking error and blocking a Tiger attack.

Memphis scored the first two points of the second period, but Rice responded with a 9-2 run to take a five-point lead. The Tigers cut the deficit to three points on three occasions, but the Owls made a 5-0 surge to put the game away, 22-13. The Owls finished the game on a 10-3 run to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. Memphis hit .000 in the second.

Game three started off just like the second, with Memphis scoring the first two points. But again Rice came back and tied the tilt at 6-all after three-straight attacking errors by the Tiger offense. With the score knotted at 9-9, the Owls scored three consecutive points to take a 12-9 advantage. Rice made a 5-2 rally with to take a 15-11 lead. Memphis faced its largest deficit at 19-14 after a Rice ace, but the squad fought back and cut the disadvantage to 21-20 on the strength to a 4-1 surge. A strike by Kelsey Knoche made it 23-22 Rice, but the Owls used two Tiger errors to complete the sweep.

Thompson paced the Memphis offense with 12 kills. She hit .375. Côté handed out 26 assists. The Tigers hit .046 for the match.

Rice's Karyn Morgan led all players with 11 kills. Setter Meredith Schamun dished out 36 assists and Caroline Gill made four total blocks.

The Tigers will return home for the remainder of the 2008 season. Memphis will host UAB in the regular season finale on Sun., Nov. 16. First serve is slated for 1:05 p.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Sunday has been designated as Senior Day for Tiger Volleyball as it will recognize its lone senior, Laura Côté in her final regular season match in front of the home crowd.