Volleyball Travels To Houston To Face Cougars And Owls
Oct 8 | Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2009
DALLAS (SMU) - The Mustangs look to gain ground on the Conference USA leaders this weekend when they travel to Houston to take on Houston and Rice, both in the top-five in the conference.
SMU (12-6, 2-2 C-USA) takes on Houston Friday night. The Cougars are currently fifth in the conference with a 3-2 record, 6-14 overall. Houston has selected the SMU match as their "Dig Pink" event, an effort to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer awareness. The Mustangs will wear pink jerseys during the event, which will also be worn during SMU's "Dig Pink" match against Houston Oct. 24 in Moody Coliseum. The jerseys will be auctioned off, with the proceeds going directly to breast cancer research.
The Mustangs will then have to turn their attention to the Rice Owls, second in the conference with a 4-1 record, 12-4 overall. SMU has played Rice twice every season since starting a program in 1996, with the Owls holding an 18-8 lead in the series. SMU has squared off with Houston 13 times, with the Cougars leading 9-4.
While the Cougars numbers are near the bottom of the conference, they have played one of the toughest non-conference schedules as any C-USA team, facing three teams that are currently in the AVCA Top-25: No. 17 Baylor, No. 22 Arizona and No. 23 UC Irvine. The Cougars most recent loss came Wednesday night at Rice, 3-0, but the Owls won the final two sets by just two points each.
Kinsey Cave leads the Cougars, ranking sixth in the conference with 3.66 kills per set, while Amanda Carson is ninth in digs with 3.90 per set.
The Owls lead the conference in kills, 14.58 per set, and digs, 17.80 per set, and are second with a .269 hitting percentage.
Natalie Bogan leads the Owls in both hitting percentage and blocks, hitting a conference second best .381. She is sixth in the league with 1.00 blocks per set, and is ninth with 3.40 kills per set. The Owls also have the league's leader in digs and assists. Tracey Lam averages 5.22 digs per set, while Meredith Schamun is the assist leader with 11.65 per set.
The Mustangs are currently eighth in the conference after picking up a pair of wins over East Carolina and Marshall last week. Dana Powell leads the squad with 3.94 kills per set, third in the conference, while Kendra Kahanek is second in the league in blocks with 1.07 per set.
SMU will face Houston Friday night at 7 p.m., before taking on Rice Saturday night at 7 p.m.
