The University of Mississippi Athletics
Volleyball Travels To Houston For Pair Of Matches
9/17/2003 | Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. -
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The Ole Miss volleyball team will travel to Houston this weekend for a pair of matches against the University of Houston and Rice University. The Lady Rebels will take on Houston Friday at 7:30 at Hofheinz Pavillion and then face Rice Saturday at 5 p.m. at Autry Court.
Ole Miss (1-10) could not overcome 12 service errors and 12 reception errors in falling to Southern Mississippi 3-0 on the road Tuesday night. The Lady Rebels either led or were tied in all three games before USM rallied to win at the end. Sophomore Rachel Refenes finished with 10 kills on 20 attempts for a .350 clip to lead the Lady Rebels. She also had five blocks. Junior Megan McCune had 10 kills and hit .292. She added six digs and two service aces.
Houston comes into Friday's match with a 2-8 record. They are coming off a 3-0 loss to Rice Tuesday night at Rice. The Cougars' wins came against Wyoming and Texas-San Antonio at the Baylor Classic. Houston is led by senior Kelly McAnelly, who has 159 kills (3.97 per game). Jaci Gonzalez, the team's libero, leads Houston with 185 digs, 4.62 per game.
Ole Miss trails in the series with Houston 2-1. The last time the two teams met was back in the 1982 season at the Tulane Invitational. Ole Miss won 2-0 and then Houston won 2-0 in the next match. The two teams also played in the AIAW National Tournament in 1977, and Houston won that meeting 2-0.
Rice returns 10 letterwinners, including five starters, from last year's 18-16 squad. They are off to a 7-5 start in 2003. The Owls defeated Houston 3-0 Tuesday night at Autry Court. The Owls' kills leader, Rebeca Pazo has 239 on the season, an average of 5.97 per game. Rice's top setter in 2002, Rebekah Neal, is also back on the court. She leads the team in digs at 148 (3.44 per game). After playing on the right side last season, sophomore Kristina Hoban is now the Owls starting setter. She has 565 assists in 2003.
Ole Miss and Rice have met five times with Rice holding a 3-2 edge. The last time the two teams played, Ole Miss posted consecutive 3-0 wins over Rice in the 1999 Baylor Invitational. The last win for Rice came in 1995, a 3-1 victory at the Southwest Texas State Bobcat Classic.