Volleyball hosts Rice Tuesday at 7 p.m.
9/1/2008 1:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sam Houston State plays host to Rice Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum, matching the Bearkats and the Owls in intercollegiate women's volleyball for the first time since 2005.
Since the Bearkats moved up to the NCAA level in 1982, Sam Houston and Rice have met in volleyball action 19 times with the Owls holding a 15-4 advantage over the Bearkats.
While Rice holds a 12-match winning streak over the Kats dating back to 1987, each of the last seven meetings have been nail-biters with the Owls having to go either four or five sets to defeat SHSU each time.
Sam Houston State opened its season Friday and Saturday with a 2-2 performance at the Comfort Suites Sam Houston Invitational at Johnson Coliseum. The Bearkats defeated Centenary and Wisconsin-Green Bay on Friday, but lost close matches to tournament champion Drake and Ball State on Saturday.
Junior Anna Ferguson earned all-tournament honors after rolling up 39 kills, 11 service aces and eight blocks in the Bearkats' four contests.
Freshman Carli Kolbe and senior transfer Haley Thomas also posted outstanding numbers. Kolbe totaled 38 kills, an average of 2.53 per game. Thomas showed she was a force on the SHSU front line with 31 kills and a team-leading 15 blocks for the tournament.
Kym Loving started all four matches at setter and totaled 124 assists. Freshman libero Kelly Moyer led the squad with 4.5 digs per game.
Rice brings a 2-1 record into Tuesday's matchup after a runner-up finish in the Rice Owl Invitational last weekend in Houston. The Owls defeated Texas-San Antonio and Louisiana-Lafayette before falling to Michigan.
Natalie Bogan, who leads the Owls with 28 kills in their three matches, was an all-tournament selection along with Rice libero Tracey Lim.
Following Tuesday's Rice match, Sam Houston heads on the road for more than a month. The Bearkats will not play another home match at Johnson Coliseum until Oct. 10 when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a Southland Conference match.
Sam Houston will participate in volleyball tournaments in Chicago, Tulsa and Arlington the next three weekends.
